


Ghosts of Christmas Past

by raptor_moon



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Christmas, Fluff, Gen, Hurt Tony Stark, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Science Bros, Team as Family, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-09-11 13:41:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 28
Words: 26,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8982235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raptor_moon/pseuds/raptor_moon
Summary: For their first Christmas as a team, Tony attempts to help the team have a dream Christmas but for him it only ends up triggering nightmares.





	1. Mid-November

It was a typical morning at the tower. Steve had returned from his morning run. Freshly showered he sat at the common room kitchen table devouring a plate of bacon, eggs and toast. Bruce, dressed in his yoga attire, sat eating yogurt with his homemade granola and fresh fruit. Natasha was enjoying a bowl of oatmeal while Clint ate sugary neon colored kids cereal. Tony was obviously taking a break from a marathon engineering session, judging from his growing resemblance to a raccoon and was peering over the assembled from a large mug of steaming hot coffee. He startled slightly when the elevator dinged, but the tell-tale clatter of heels on the floor soon revealed the interloper.

“Pep, Pep, Pep, Pepper, what can I do for you?” A slightly manic edge in the voice of the sleep deprived engineer.

“Have you made a decision on holiday decorations for the Avenger’s levels of the tower?”

“Uhmmmm…Nope?” Tony cringed away from Pepper’s exasperated glare.

“Tony, did you even ask?”

“I think this is the first time we have even seen Tony the killer robots we fought three days ago.” Clint spoke up. Natasha nodded.

“You got the new designs for SI you requested.” Tony piped up.

“Yes, Tony.” Pepper replied with a resigned tone to her voice.

"And I gave feedback to R&D and signed and sent back the paperwork you asked for…”

“Yes, Tony.” Pepper rolled her eyes, knowing where this was going.

“I got the repairs done to Widow’s weapons and Hawkeye’s got new arrows, so the team should be ready for the next emergency.”

“Yes, Tony.” Clint and Natasha answered in unison.

“I even identified the problem Fury’s been having with engine vibration on the helicarrier.”

“Yes, Tony.” Steve answered to everyone’s surprise. Fury had browbeaten Steve until he pulled Tony out of the lab for that one.

“So…” Pepper waited, tapping her foot.

“JARVIS, what exactly have I forgotten to do.” Tony slumped onto a stool in defeat. Bruce frowned as he replaced Tony’s coffee with a smoothie.

“Ms. Potts wanted you to determine if the team wanted the decorating service to do the common area or any of their floors for the upcoming holiday season.”

“Oh.” Tony looked uncomfortable. He glanced around at the others. “So?”

The team looked at each other with confusion. Pepper sighed. She figured she needed to explain.

“We have a service to decorate the building for the holidays. They put up the trees and other decorations, they maintain the trees and any other live greenery, and then they take down the decorations and recycle the trees at the end of the holiday season. We keep the public and general office areas very secular, festive and modern to fit the building. But for your floors you can choose not to decorate, or customize colors and styles, traditional and modern, and even specify if you celebrate other holiday celebrations during this time, like Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.”

Pepper paused and the team looked at each other.

“Tony was supposed to tell you about this last week so you would have time to discuss and come to a decision.” 

Tony hung his head, ashamed of failing again.

“I haven’t had a place to call my own for a long time,” Steve looked at Tony and smiled. “I think I’d like to decorate my own floor by myself.”

Natasha, Clint and Bruce all nodded in agreement before Steve spoke again.

“For the common area, I don’t know? Tony, it’s your tower. What do you normally do?”

Tony swallowed hard, a look like a deer caught in the headlights briefly crossed his face before the mask fell back into place and he answered, “I don’t. Howard was an atheist who had no time to waste on frivolities like the holidays. Maria wanted decorator perfect for the season’s holiday functions she would host. Any decorations were simply the backdrop to a stage setting. So for myself, I’ve just never bothered.”

Tony glanced up to see looks of shock, surprise, disappointment and perhaps pity on the faces of his teammates, so he quickly deflected, “But I am perfectly happy to do what Pepper or anyone else wants to do.”

“I would suggest that whatever you do, you allow the professionals to maintain the tree, so if you are suddenly called away for business you don’t come back to a dead tree,” Pepper added.

Steve spoke up, “Could we do a team tree on the common floor and decorate it together?” Steve sounded so wistful Tony suddenly felt like Scrooge. 

“We should go out to a tree farm and cut down our own.” Clint volunteered. 

Natasha shook her head. “I dislike the idea of killing a tree just for decoration.”

“We could dig up the root ball, so after the holiday we could donate it to be planted in a park.” Bruce suggested.

“JARVIS,” Tony inquired, “Do you have sufficient parameters for a search?”

“Indeed, Sir.” A holographic map appeared above the breakfast table. “I have indicated several tree farms that meet those specifications on the map.”

“So pick a date and JARVIS can arrange transportation.” Tony said as he refilled his coffee mug and disappeared back to the lab.


	2. Tuesday before Thanksgiving

“We need to move the sofa another two feet to the right to make sure we have enough room for the tree.” Natasha looked at the floor plan Tony had drawn up and directed Steve and Clint as they rearranged the common floor lounge area. Meanwhile Bruce brought up the decorative bucket and tree stand contraption needed to keep the tree upright and alive during the holidays. Tony walked in clapping his hands, “Ready for our field trip boys and girls?”

The drive to the tree farm was uneventful, though Steve tried to get a conversation going about Christmas memories and what everyone ideal Christmas would be like. What Steve failed to understand was that he was the only member of the Avengers team that had positive memories of the holiday. Tony had a few from when he was very young, but too many were marred by parental absence or Howard’s drunken rages.

Once there, the search began for the perfect tree. It was a difficult task. Bruce had researched trees that could last a month inside and still be viable for replanting. Steve had a firm opinion on tree shape, Natasha on branch spacing and Clint on fullness and uniformity. They had picked and rejected over a hundred trees and Steve realized that Tony had offered no input. “Tony, how tall are the ceilings where we are putting the tree?”

“Eleven and a half feet, so you want to pick out an eight foot tree. We will need to give it almost a two foot root ball, so that puts us at 10 feet. That gives you 6 inches for a tree topper and a foot of clearance.”

Steve looked at Tony, surprised he had given it that much thought. “Anything else we should know?” 

“You will want a tree about 5 feet wide at the base to get the golden ratio you are looking for.”

It took another half an hour before they finally found a tree they could all agree upon. Then they began the slow process of digging out the root ball. It would be almost 4 foot  
wide and 2 feet tall, but luckily they had a super-soldier to lift it and manhandle it out of the tree farm. As they dug they discussed other holiday traditions.

“So we can’t have any stockings hung by the chimney with care, since there are no chimneys in the tower.” Clint commented.

“I’ve got a Hawkeye in my ductwork, why would I need a fat man in a red suit in my non-existent environmentally unfriendly chimney?” Tony retorted.

“No one is criticizing your tower, Tony.” Natasha replied, shaking her head at their antics.

“Steve did.”

“I did not.”

“Did too!”

“Did not…” Steve interrupted himself, “Fine. When?”

“On the helicarrier, after we first met.”

“I never…oh yeah, I did. Sorry about that.”

“Yeah, well, I guess it’s a bit ostentatious for your 1940’s sensibilities, Cap.”

“Still…”

“How’s the extraction coming Bruce?” Tony abruptly changed the subject.

“Almost there, then we can wrap this up and take it home.” 

“Almost there” ending up being another was half hour to get the root ball wrapped in burlap and twenty minutes to get it out of the tree farm, wrapped for travel and secured to the car.

Natasha stuck with Tony as he paid for the tree and spoke to Happy about a detour for lunch after a stop at another address. She noticed Happy seemed distressed by the side trip and wondered what Tony had planned.

As they drove along Steve suddenly commented, “If you head that way, Camp Lehigh was just over the Jersey line. I trained there during the war.”

“So, Howard had a penthouse apartment in New York City for years, and only got the mansion in the city after he married.” Tony interrupted. The team looked perplexed by the sudden non sequitur, but after a shaky breath, Tony continued. “He had purchased a house out here before the US entered the war for when he wanted to be closer to Camp Lehigh for the work he was doing with the SSR. Maria preferred the Mansion in the city but believed a child should spend time in the countryside so in my early years and on longer breaks from school the household moved here.“ The car had turned into a tree lined gravel drive and stopped in front of an ornate wrought iron gate with an intricate gold leaf S monogram in the middle. Tony sighed, “Welcome to the Stark Manor House.”

Happy opened the gate and drove up to the imposing home. Tony continued his nervous monologue as they climbed the stairs to the huge double doors. “It’s been closed for years but maintained. It’s definitely more Caps time period. If you think you’d rather spend a week here at Christmas, I can have it made ready.” Tony turned the key and opened the doors. A grand entryway with a curving double staircase greeted them. Soaring ceilings and a crystal chandelier hung above. 

“Gee, Tony think we can all fit?” Clint said sarcastically.

Tony seemed to miss it, as he stood one hand absently massaging the elbow of his other arm, body language screaming his discomfort. “There are 57 rooms, 3 master suites, 6 guest suites…” Tony recited in a monotone. 

“Tony, he was kidding.” Bruce said, coming up from behind and placing a comforting hand on Tony’s back, noticing his distress.

“Is that a fireplace?” Clint’s voice echoed from the next room, where he had wandered ahead, followed by Steve. They caught up with the pair staring at a huge fireplace with rose marble surround and mantle. 

“So there is your inefficient chimney.” Tony glared at it. “If you want to stay, I would suggest Bruce take Obadiah’s suite as it’s the most up to date. He used the house for years…” Tony’s voice trailed off in thought. He cleared his throat and resumed, “Natasha and Clint can use Howard and Maria’s suite.”

Natasha turned to glare, but Tony returned the look. “It’s a turn of the century manor, they had separate bedrooms and sitting rooms, a shared bathroom, a little too ostentatious to be called a Jack & Jill bathroom. I figured you’ve done enough joint missions to handle sharing a bathroom.” 

“Steve, you could use Peggy’s suite.” Steve turned to stare at Tony in disbelief but Tony had already turned away. “I’ll leave you to explore the house.” Tony exited the house.

It was cold in the house and a little spooky with all of the furnishings draped in fabric. The team explored, finding the rooms Tony had suggested. Natasha noticed a lack of candid photos. There were formal family portraits, newspaper articles and publicity stills, but no candid glimpse of everyday life. But the idea of spending time away from the city with the team was appealing and Steve and Clint seemed very excited. As they were about to leave, Natasha noticed a slip of paper at under a sofa. She pulled it out. “Memorial Service for Howard and Maria Stark” graced the page. She suddenly realized why Tony had exited the house so quickly and Bruce seemed so worried about him. Staying here so close to the anniversary of their deaths would be very hard on Stark, as he faced ghosts of Christmas past.


	3. Thanksgiving

They had returned to the tower and between an engineer and a super-soldier managed to get the tree secured in an upright position. 

Decorating became another hot topic of discussion. Steve wanted traditional with popcorn garland and wooden ornaments. Natasha favored blown glass baubles. Bruce wanted a white lights, Clint wanted colored. Tony contributed the entire set of Avengers ornaments, the ones he had approved that included every member of the team. He also made a unique fiber optic lit tree topper that he hoped would stave off the star versus angel argument. In the end the tree was a mixture of everyone’s style and still looked great.

Wednesday was spent preparing the pies and other steps of pre-feast preparations. Feeding a Hulk and a super-soldier meant two turkeys and a ham, plus the usual assortment of sides and desserts for Thanksgiving dinner. But Bruce was a good cook and surprisingly adept at organizing the feast. Everyone contributed with something within their skill set, and the meal came together beautifully.  
It was after the meal when people had retired to the lounge to relax, and admire the tree, that talk turned to the idea of Christmas out of the city.

“Remember we have to be back before New Year’s Eve. We have been asked to be part of the official New York festivities.” Steve stated before asking, “How much time do you think Fury will give us?”

“If we take a quinjet, we can be back in the city within 40 minutes if there is a problem. So we can probably get at least 10 days, maybe two weeks.” Natasha surmised.

“If we get two weeks we could leave Thursday, December 15th and return December 29th.” Clint added.

Steve as always took control, “Anyone have any issues with those dates?”

Bruce shook his head. “Steve, you, Natasha and Clint get occasional solo assignments from S.H.E.I.L.D. but Tony is the only one here who has a job with regular calendar obligations; even if he tries to make us believe his time is his own.”

“Hey, don’t let me stop you guys.” Tony suddenly focused on the conversation. “If you can get away, go on and I can always join you later.” 

“No, the point is to do this as a team,” Steve interrupted. “If you have obligations…”

“J.A.R.V.I.S. what is Tony’s schedule like for the second half the end of December?” Bruce asked.

J.A.R.V.I.S. brought up a projection of the schedule before Tony could object.

“Shit, Tony…no wonder you never sleep and forget to eat. What is all of that?” Clint exclaimed.

“Red is iron man suit upgrades, yellow avengers equipment upgrades, orange is S.H.I.E.L.D.’s demands on me as a _consultant_ , green is SI R&D work, blue SI business meeting, purple is lab time with Bruce, cyan is social obligations like gala’s and fundraisers, and pink is downtime like this.” Tony stated. He was grateful the December 16th and 17th were both marked off cyan for the Maria Stark Foundation Gala on the 17th. J.A.R.V.I.S. knew the 16th would be a visit to his parents gravesite followed by locking himself in the lab with his bots. No one else needed to know how he dealt with his memories on that day.

“Tony, you need to block off time to eat 3 meals and sleep 8 hours a night.” Steve commented.

“I actually start off with that, Cap, but when projects take longer, Avengers call outs, unexpected repairs, something has to give….” Tony was interrupted by Bruce.

“But working until you collapse is not healthy, especially when we get a call out when you’ve been awake for over 48 hours already.”

“Ok, this was not fuss at Tony’s schedule day. I should be able to shift projects and clear my schedule after the Maria Stark Gala on the 17th. Is that ok?” Tony looked at the team.

“Sounds good, we can arrange the tree planting on the 18th, leave on the 19th and get a new tree for the Manor.” Steve announced.

“Ok, J let’s put on some sappy holiday flicks now?” Tony said as he settled on the sofa.


	4. December 16th

Tony had grabbed coffee in the communal kitchen and headed down to the lab in torn jeans and band T-shirt. Anyone seeing him in the common area knew he was headed towards a long workday. 

“Ok, J – Lock it down.”

The glass to the lab darkened and the music started up. Tony stepped into the lab bathroom and changed into a dark custom tailored suit and tie. He made his way to the garage level where he selected the black Rolls-Royce phantom and departed.

If spotted he would give the paparazzi little to speculate upon, dutiful billionaire son discreetly visiting his parents’ graves on the anniversary of their deaths. As a cemetery that had catered to the rich and famous for well over a century, his suit and car selections were more camouflage then showy. He made his way to the graves undisturbed.

“Hey,” Tony approached Howard’s grave first. “Well, that rumor I told you last year was true. They finally found the Capsicle. Thawed his sanctimonious ass out and put him back to work saving the world. I got to meet him. Didn’t like him, and he didn’t like me. But that’s to be expected. You told me I was a worthless punk. He seemed to agree. But he appreciated the iron man armor. And I saved New York from a nuclear missile and used it to destroy an alien army. Almost died in the process, yeah screwed that up, too. Anyway take care of mom….” 

Tony let out a breath and turned to the neighboring grave. He felt tears welling up and choked back a sob, hearing his father’s voice, “Starks are made of iron, Stark men don’t cry.” He took a deep breath and placed the flowers on his mother’s grave.

“Mom, I think I may have made a friend. I at least have a lab buddy. I think you’d like him. Dr. Banner, Bruce, is a real sweet guy and a brilliant scientist. He tries really hard not to lose his temper, since he turns into a big green rage monster if he does. How do I tell him the Hulk is not as scary as Howard was in a drunken rage? Anyway, Pepper hasn’t left me yet. But I keep having nightmares. The kidnapping was bad enough, but now I also dream of dying in space as the alien invasion keeps coming to kill everyone. I wake up screaming or shaking in a panic, I wake up Pepper. I know I am going to scare her off, and she is the best thing that ever happened to me. I am trying not to make the same mistakes as Dad, I’m trying not to drink as much, but I still get lost in the lab in creation mode and she hates that I’m risking my life to save the world.”

Tears ran unbidden down Tony’s face. He sat on the stone bench near the grave to compose himself. Nearly an hour had passed and Tony found himself chilled to the bone when he finally stood to leave the graveyard.

The drive home was a blur but he returned to the tower without anyone noticing his absence. He changed out of his suit and returned to his t-shirt and jeans. 

“J – turn up the heat, its freezing in here.” Tony didn’t like the twinge of pain near his heart.

“Sir, you are exhibiting signs of mild hypothermia; I believe the ARC reactor housing is essentially acting as a chiller, cooling you further with each heartbeat. You have spent very little time in the cold since…”

“I get it J.” Tony stumbled to the couch and wrapped a blanket over his chest. 

“Shall I contact Dr. Banner?”

“No, lab lockdown remains in place for the day.”

“Then might I suggest you attempt to directly warm the housing?”

DUM-E found the heating pad and handed it to Tony who had not moved from where he had curled up on the couch. “Thanks, DUM-E. Ok J – play something distracting.”

The bots and J.A.R.V.I.S. tended to Tony in his grief as he mourned in private with the only family he really had.


	5. Of Galas and Trees

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the short chapter today folks. Holiday guests make for busy days.

Tony was nearing the end of his prepared speech. “Twenty-five years ago,” There was a pause as Tony collected himself, “My parents were taken from this world too soon in a tragic accident. By establishing the Maria Stark Foundation, Stark Industries and I have attempted to carry on her good works by supporting charities and organizations that help others. I thank you for your contributions and continued support.”

He relinquished the microphone and Tony walked past his chair and hurried off the stage. Normally he got through this better but this year, tears threatened to fall. He locked himself into the washroom until he could once again apply the Tony Stark persona. He heard a knock on the washroom door. 

“Tony, are you ok?” Bruce’s voice hesitantly asked. Tony cracked the door open. Bruce’s observant eyes suspected Tony had been crying, but no one else would notice.

“Sure,” he grabbed Bruce’s arm. “Let’s go get some charitable contributions.”

With the Avengers agreeing to attend, except for Thor who was off-world, Tony was thankfully not the center of attention this year, as he was having a hard time dealing with the attention this year. Steve was, as always, a huge draw and Clint seemed to be directing the older guests, those most likely to have memories of Howard and Maria towards Steve. Pepper, Natasha and Bruce stayed close and interrupted when guests seem to be sending him to a bad place in his memories. Tony just felt numb and was grateful when the night was over. 

The next day they packed up the common tree decorations and delivered the tree to a small park that had been damaged in a recent battle against some of Doom’s robots. The press was there and it was good PR, though everyone agreed they would rather have avoided the publicity.

They returned to the tower and packed for the next 10 days at the Manor. The loaded the quinjet that would provide them with quick access back to the city. It had been part of the arrangement to have the time off. Tony had put in a landing pad and hanger on the property when he was having it cleaned up for their use. As they approached the house, his team mates enthusiasm for their upcoming holiday increased exponentially, while Tony felt an increasing sense of dread. 

“Wow, Stark. It cleaned up nice.” Clint said. The crystals of the chandelier gleamed, the wood had been polished to a deep shine and every bit of metal reflected mirror-like images. The cleaning crews had done good work. 

“The kitchen should be fully stocked, and clean linens on all the beds. I’ll admit I’m beat. I’ll see you in the morning.” Tony left for them to find their rooms and unlocked the door to his suite. It was unchanged from his youth as he had spent little time in it since college and even before with the school year spent in boarding school. As he lay on the bed he doubted sleep would come and if it did, the nightmares would soon follow. 

The rest of the team enjoyed a late night snack in the kitchen before retiring to their respective suites. They had only just fallen asleep when a scream broke the silence of the night.


	6. Terror in the Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for another short chapter as the holidays continue, but at least a little comfort to go with the hurt today.

“J.A.R.V.I.S. Lights!” Tony ordered automatically, as he clutched his arms around his knees, tears streaming down his face. His tablet and cell phone flared bright white to illuminate the room. 

“I’m sorry, sir, I have no control of the lighting, climate, anything but your personal devices in this residence.” J.A.R.V.I.S. sounded very upset by this limitation. “From the wristband for calling the suit I can sense your heart rate is elevated. From the time am I correct in assuming you were having a nightmare?”

The door to Tony’s bedroom burst open, four Avengers spilling inside. Tony startled at the sound, and then buried his head on his knees at the intrusion.

Steve looked around and saw no danger, just a bedroom done in shades of blue with white accents and only a touch of what Steve had come to think of as Iron man red. “Stark?” he asked in confusion.

Tony just curled up tighter into the middle of his bed shaking.

“Tony, are you ok?” Bruce asked in a small voice. 

“Just a nightmare,” Tony mumbled. “Sorry if I disturbed you. Go on back to bed.”

Tony felt the bed shift as Bruce sat down next to him. Another small shift occurred at the foot of the bed. He looked up to see Natasha perched at the end of the bed looking at him strangely.

“Wow, Tony.” Clint’s voice broke through his thoughts. “Was there any Captain America toy you didn’t have?”

“I said Howard was obsessed with finding Captain America. That spilled over into what presents he would give me when he remembered I existed.” Tony started with an angry yell, but the final words were barely a whisper he hoped no one heard.

Steve turned his attention to the brunette still huddled on the bed, but was quickly distracted by Clint. “Steve, you should see this stuff. Honestly Tony, you could donate this to the Smithsonian, its better than their collection.” 

Bruce didn’t think it was possible for Tony to curl up any tighter. That had to be uncomfortable with the arc reactor. 

“Tony, it’s been a busy week dredging up a lot of bad memories for you. A few nightmares are natural.” He looked at Natasha watching quietly from the foot of the bed. “I’m going to make us something hot to drink while we talk science for awhile. Ok?”

Tony nodded as if he didn’t trust his voice.

“Clint, you can be a crazed fan tomorrow, go back to bed now. You are annoying.” Natasha said with a smirk. She then turned knowing eyes on Tony. “Was the last time you stayed in this house just after your parents’ death?”

His head whipped up. How could she know? He met her eyes and noted the strange expression, was it sympathy, exasperation? He hated emotions. He nodded slowly. She shook her head as she ushered Clint and Steve from the room.

“Is he ok?” Steve asked.

“Is he ever?” Natasha answered cryptically, “But I think Dr. Banner has a handle on things for tonight.”

She held the door as Bruce slipped in with two mugs of hot cocoa and closed the door behind him.

“So, I have gotten some interesting results.” Bruce began, “J.A.R.V.I.S. can you pull up my latest experimental data?”

“Certainly, Dr. Banner,” J.A.R.V.I.S. replied.

Tony uncurled to pick up the tablet, rubbing his free hand absentmindedly over the arc reactor.

Natasha could not shake her nagging worry that Tony was hiding something important, again, but trusted that the “Science Bros” would be ok for the night.


	7. Memories in the Attic

Tony awoke the next morning dreading facing the team. He was grateful they all seemed to assume it was about his parents’ death, and thinking the 25th anniversary was a reason for it to be worse this year, when he would have assumed the passing years should have made it have less of an impact. Of course, by the same thinking the real cause of his nightmares should also have lessened. A father who ignored him most of the time, spending his time either off searching for Steve or building Stark Industries into the leading weapons manufacturer, but Tony was the one who got called the “Merchant of Death.” Of course being ignored was better than the alternative. Attention included constant belittling of his achievements or negative comparisons to the great Steve Rogers, being an assistant to his father in the lab where he never knew if something he was handed would hurt him by being too hot or cold, acidic or explosive, or the worst but thankfully rarest attention, being the focus of one of his father’s drunken rages where he would be grabbed, shoved, struck or beaten depending upon his mood. Last night’s nightmare had been an incoherent jumble of images from various moments of “attention” from his father. Staying in the house was going to be harder than he first imaged.

$$$

The team was gathered in the kitchen. Steve was planning the decorating of the Manor with the intensity he usually gave to a mission. 

“So would there be any decorations hidden away in an attic or something?” Steve asked. “It would cost an arm and a leg to decorate this place; I can’t see Howard liking the expense of re-doing it each year.”

No, Howard wouldn’t like the expense, Tony remembered that fact clearly.

_Howard leaned against the doorframe to Tony’s bedroom suite, a drink in his free hand._

_“Anthony, what is that atrocity.” Howard glared at the aluminum Christmas tree in ten year old Tony’s room._

_“It’s a classic Sparkler Pom Christmas Tree. Mom,” Tony paused at the glare. “Maria said since I was old enough for boarding school, I was old enough to decorate my room the way I wanted, so I wanted to redo the sitting room to be a better study and workplace, and put up a tree I like. It won’t drop any needles and fits in with the mechanical workbench better than a green tree.”_

_“It’s a waste of money and a waste of space.” Tony should have known to expect the blow and duck, but he never seemed to anticipate a blow from his father. It knocked him across the room into the new workbench. His arm impacted the legs of the bench and his head hit the edge of the workbench surface. “Sell the tree and buy SI shares with the money. And I expect to see something useful for SI by the end of the week or the workbench goes as well.”_

_Tony shook his head to try and dispel his dizziness and saw droplets of blood appear on the floor. He sighed as he grasped his arm. He had just gotten rid of the lasts of the casts from his most recent kidnapping. Just before his birthday he had been kidnapped and Howard had, for the first time, refused to pay ransom. He had ended up with broken bones in his arms and legs, dislocated digits and cracked ribs. He had only just gotten rid of the last cast at Thanksgiving break, and now he was pretty sure he would be back in plaster again. He sighed and staggered upright. He needed to find Jarvis._

“Tony, are you listening to me?” Steve asked.

“Just thinking, Cap.” Tony took a long sip of coffee to clear his head. “There should be wreath frames, tree stands, some ornaments and stockings in the attic.” 

“Tree stands? How many trees did you put up?” Steve asked. “The tree I got for my floor wasn’t cheap, and the one in the common room was several feet taller.”

“The one for the ballroom with the grand fireplace will be a 12 to 18 foot tree, depending on the look you want.” Tony answered, ”J.A.RV.I.S. can you find the old society magazine article they did on the Manor House holiday decorations and display it for Steve here?”

There was a brief pause before the response of “Article located,” was heard and the images displayed.

“Look at the size of those stockings!” Clint exclaimed. “How much stuff did you get in those?”

“It’s all smoke and mirrors bird-brain: A grapefruit in the toe, rolled newspapers for the body and actual stuff in the top of the stocking only.” Tony answered. “Come up to the attic with me and I’ll show you.”

$$$

A few hours later and the attic had been raided. Tony had demonstrated giant stocking stuffing 101 and the team had determined how many trees, how large and where they would be placed. Several of the wreath frames had rusted and needed repairs. Tony now stood at the entrance to the Howard’s workshop. He had suggested running back to the Tower to do the repairs.

“Surely Howard had welding tools in his workshop.” Steve and Clint were too distracted by their holiday preparations to notice Tony’s hesitation.

“Yes. He did.” Memories of burns from hot metal ran through Tony’s mind as he worked to slow his breathing and opened the door. He worked quickly, wanting to get out of the room that held too many memories of hurt, when a piece of wreath frame broke suddenly and shot out, slicing open his wrist and hand with the rusty wire. Suddenly he was lost in those memories. 

_The wire whipped out and cut five year old Tony’s hand. “Daddy!”_

_“What did I say to call me?”_

_“Howard, sir.”_

_“Now why did you interrupt me?”_

_Tony held up his hand, blood welling from the cut._

_“You clumsy oaf! You will never amount to anything." Howard waved his arms, alcohol spilling from the glass he held. "Steve Rogers is easily worth a dozen or more of you. You are delaying my work, and I need to get this done before I can rejoin the search for Captain America. It will be your fault if he is never found. Get out of my sight!”_

_Howard’s word rang in Tony’s ears as he ran to find Jarvis._

Bruce went hunting for Tony when he was still in his father’s lab three hours later. Tony did not respond to Bruce’s presence. Bruce found his fellow scientist shivering on the floor of the lab under a workbench, knees drawn up to his chest with one hand putting pressure on the wrist of the other. A puddle of blood was pooled on the floor below.


	8. Lab Accidents

“So I think we are ready to head out to the tree farm again tomorrow.” Steve said as the team sat down for dinner. “I am not sure how we can haul as large a tree as we need, plus two smaller trees and greenery for the wreathes back here without several trips. And does Tony know how much greenery we need for those frames?” He looked around the table and finally noticed the empty chair. “Where is Tony? Did he get lost down in the lab like always? He was just supposed to fix the wreath frames.” Steve was on a mission to get the Manor decorated and was not in the mood for delays.

“I’ll go check on him.” Bruce offered. He was worried. He hadn’t see tony all afternoon, but he had noticed that Tony seemed more stressed and anxious of late. From conversations during late nights in the lab, he had gotten the sense that Tony understood Bruce’s relationship with an drunken abusive father on a far more personal level than he ever would have expected. While Bruce had lost his parents at an early age, with his father murdering his mother when she tried to protect him from abuse, he knew Tony had not lost his parents until he was almost grown. He had no proof, but seeing Tony so uncomfortable in his childhood home, he started to wonder what less aggressive, better hidden abuse over a much longer time would do to a person. 

His first stop was the lab, and his initial thought was that it was empty. He examined the workbench and noticed the bloody wire extending from the wreath frame and a splatter of droplets that led to a pool of blood on the floor. It was probably only half a pint or less, well under what one would lose donating blood, but he still worried, especially since Tony had not come upstairs for help. As he bent down to examine the bloodstain, he heard a small sound and found the billionaire huddled on the floor under another workbench near the wall. Bruce bent down to Tony’s level. 

“Tony, are you ok?” When Tony did not respond, Bruce reached out and placed pressure on the wound. Tony jumped at the touch with a ragged intake of breath. His eyes rose to look unseeing at Bruce. Bruce quickly realized Tony’s hands were freezing and he did not know if other man’s shivering was due to the cold or shock. 

“Tony, can you come out from under the workbench?” Bruce asked. Tony shook his head then lowered it back down to his knees.

“Bruce, is there a problem down here?” Steve’s super-soldier hearing had detected Bruce’s one sided conversion and started down into the workshop. He strode into the workshop and stopped, staring at a map Bruce had not noticed in his search for Tony. It was a map of the arctic, covered with pins and dates ranging from Captain America’s disappearance until just before Howard’s death, visible proof that Tony’s insistence on Howard’s obsession with Captain America was not a child’s exaggeration. Steve looked shocked and turned to Bruce who was kneeling by a workbench. He suddenly saw the blood and visibly paled. “What happened?”

“I think a wire snapped and cut open his hand and wrist. Being in his father’s lab, I can only guess it’s caused a flashback that he hasn’t snapped out of yet.” Bruce sighed. “It’s cold down here. I need to get him upstairs where it’s warmer and get that wound cleaned up. I think it will need stitches.”

Steve lifted the table away. Tony looked up, frightened brown eyes unseeing. Steve picked the smaller man up and carried him upstairs.

$$$

A few minutes later and Clint and Natasha had brought the first aid kit to the kitchen. Dinner was forgotten as Steve supported Tony at the sink while Bruce cleaned the wound. Once the wound was cleaned and Tony was seated at the kitchen table, Natasha draped a blanket over his shoulders and Clint pushed a glass of orange juice at him. Sometime during this process Tony seemed to slowly come back to the present. As Bruce began stitching the wound closed, Steve sighed. “So what happened?”

“Wire broke, caught my wrist and cut it open. It brought back a memory. I was maybe five. It was one of the first times Dad had me helping in the lab. A wire slipped and cut my hand.” Tony traced a pale white scar across his palm. “Not sure why the flashback was so violent. How long was I out of it?”

“Well, I don’t know how long you had been working before it happened, but you had been in the lab for almost three hours when I came looking for you.”

“I wanted to ask you about the best way to haul all the trees and greenery back here and you hadn’t come up for dinner. 

Tony looked around the kitchen and saw the dirty pots and pans. “I interrupted your meal. Sorry about messing up everyone plans.”

“Tony, you are more important than any of that.” Bruce said as he bandaged Tony’s hand, patting it when he was done. “Are you sure you are ok with being here, with us being here?”

Tony nodded. “You all deserve a nice traditional holiday. J.A.R.V.I.S. check with the tree farm, make sure they have trees that meet Cap’s specifications and hire someone for tomorrow to get them hauled back to the Manor.” Tony gave a wan smile. “That should help make up for today’s lost time.” Tony swallowed down the rest of the juice. “I am going to go rest for awhile.” Tony left the kitchen unaware of the confused looks from his teammates.

Clint stared at the doorway long after Tony had left. "What was a five year old doing in a workshop?"

"Presumably to learn." Natasha answered. "It is well documented that Tony built his first circuit board at four, his first engine at six, so it makes sense."

"But it was dangerous," Steve protested.

"I don't think that mattered." Bruce sighed.

$$$ 

Tony tried to rest. But every time he closed his eyes he saw Howard. Every place in this house had a memory of hurt, pain, or humiliation. He could stay here no longer.  
Tony pulled out the briefcase armor. “J, if any of the Avengers call, I am on SI business, if Pepper calls, its Avengers business, if Rhodey calls, I’ll call him back later, anyone else, I’m just unavailable.”

“And where will you be sir?” J.A.R.V.I.S. asked. 

“I’m heading to you and the bots, ” Tony answered. “I’m coming home.”


	9. Missing Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony can't seem to catch a break.

The team awoke and came together at breakfast. Once again one team member was missing.  
“Where is Stark? He need to eat something before we go get the trees.” Steve groused.

“He hasn’t even been in for coffee.” Clint added.

Bruce looked thoughtful. “He’s not in the lab and he normally only sleeps for hours if he’s been up for several days, but I can check his room.” 

“You haven’t checked your phones.” Natasha said as she checked her messages.

_Sorry, some SI business needed hands on attention. I’ll try to clear it up as quickly as possible, hopefully be back at the manor tomorrow afternoon, day after at the latest. Tony_

“Kind of missing the idea of this being a team-building activity,” Steve grumbled.

Clint snitched a slice of toast from Steve’s pile, “Yeah, but we saw his schedule, so it’s not surprising.”

“But he’s the one who actually needs the vacation,” Bruce sighed.

$$$  
Getting all the trees and greenery ended up being an all day affair, and Clint was complaining about the cold by the end of it. “You all have some version of the serum and run hot. I’m just human. And I don’t complain nearly as much as Tony would.”

Natasha smirked. “He would complain just to hear his own voice.” Then she grew thoughtful. “Does the cold bother his arc reactor? Since it is embedded in his chest…”

Steve reacted as if that information was new, but Bruce nodded, “It depends upon the thermal conductivity of the metal, the mass of material and how deep it goes. But I would not be surprised if it makes him more sensitive to the cold. Of course he’s rarely outside without the suit anymore.”

“Well then I guess he picked a good day to miss. I hope he’s back tomorrow, let’s get these trees loaded.”

$$$

Tony sighed. The common room looked so lonely without the tree and Avengers filling it. He grabbed fresh coffee and headed back down to the lab. The bots had put up their tree, a odd conglomeration of scrap metal that had been growing since Thanksgiving. This was Christmas with his family, though he would have liked to see the clashing decorations of the Avengers tree mixed with the designer style of Maria’s trees. Howard was an atheist and tried to ignore the holiday, but Maria’s catholic upbringing led to a strange mix of religious observance and empty celebration filled with galas and fundraisers. Tony resumed his work, giving each bot an intensive cleaning and tune-up, his gift to his family. He figured he could stay away from the Manor until the late afternoon of the 21st, and then he would have to face his demons and rejoin the team or face the wrath of “disappointed Captain America.”

$$$

“OK, it’s December 21st and the goal for today is get the trees up and decorated, the wreaths made and hung, and so the physical decorating is done today. Hopefully Tony will be back this afternoon to help with the wreaths.” Steve approached decorating like a military mission.

The trees took longer than Steve had expected without the engineer to help with getting them stable and vertical. Steve even suggested calling, but Bruce reminded him that if Tony was in his “engineering zone” that interrupting would slow him down and get him back even later. They began splitting the decorations for the three trees and then took a break for lunch.

 

$$$

Tony was admiring the view from his Tower as he sipped his coffee; he was comfortably barefoot, dressed in his ratty jeans and t-shirt. He contemplated getting lunch before heading back to the Manor and his bad memories. He recognized the telltale trail of an incoming missile moments before his unbreakable windows exploded inwards in a shower of glass-like shards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An evil cliffhanger, my husband's birthday to keep me from writing today, and back to work tomorrow...  
> So daily updates may now be impossible and I apologize in advance.


	10. Avengers Assemble

Suddenly the Avengers Assemble Alarm blared through every phone and Starkpad on the premises.

Steve startled upright, almost dropping a glass ornament. “What on earth?” 

“There has been an attack in New York City.” J.A.R.V.I.S’ voice rang out through the devices speakers.

“What, Where?” Clint asked as he scrambled upstairs to change. 

“A sonic weapon has been used to blow out the windows in Stark Tower to gain access to the Avengers floors. I took the liberty of contacting you and S.H.I.E.L.D. Sir has activated the suits.”

“Tony is there alone?” Bruce had no need to change and paused to think about the message, “Wait, you said suits, plural?” 

“Sir is piloting the current version of the suit. I am attempting to assist using the damaged previous version and incomplete next version. We are rather outnumbered, Dr. Banner, so I thought it prudent to call for backup. The tower was otherwise empty except for Janitorial staff, so it has now been evacuated completely.”

The team headed towards the hanger and landing pad Tony had built to house the Avenger’s Quinjet.

“Tell Stark we will be there in about half an hour.” Steve said.

Clint smiled grimly. “Less if Tony tweaked this baby, Hang on folks, we are going for fast not fancy.”

$$$

The rocket exploded, emitting a pulse that broke the windows, windows that were made of the same high strength materials as the clear areas of his faceplate. Tony stumbled backwards, an arm thrown up to protect his face, caught in an all too familiar nightmare. High speed shrapnel of advance polycarbonate material came blasting towards him. He felt his body impaled with a thousand shards of glass. Well, not glass, but the effect was the same, some small, some large, some barely scratching his skin, others penetrating like daggers. He fought to keep himself in the present and not slip into a panic attack that could get him killed. He picked himself up from where his body had been thrown across the room by the blast and ran across a floor covered in slivers, knowing he was cutting his feet to ribbons but needing to get under cover. “J – I need a suit!” Tony shouted as he ran towards the staircase down to the safety of the lab. He staggered into the lab, leaving three bloody footprints on the concrete as his foot was surrounded by the repulsor boot on the fourth step. He yanked out the largest piece of glass from his side before the armor closed around him. He exited his lab as the first set of spider-like robots prepared to enter the tower. 

$$$

Twenty-five minutes had passed but the tower was in sight. Spider-like robots were crawling over tower. 

“I think I can still land at the tower,” Clint shifted his hands on the controls, “but you need to be prepared to be attacked the moment we land.” 

A familiar red and gold suit was being attacked by two of the robots. Natasha was staring intently. “Is it trying to remove the arc reactor from the armor?”

A moment later the arc reactor was being pulled free and the armor exploded, taking out the two robots.

“Tony!” Steve screamed in shock.

The quinjet doors had opened, and the Hulk roared out with grief, “Ironman gone!” He smashed a robot that was headed towards the tower, taking out part of the doorway in his action. A familiar red and gold suit suddenly pulled up, and the faceplate slid aside.

“Ironman is fine big guy, my next armor is destroyed, but I’m fine. Smash the spider-bots not the house, ok?”

“Ok,” Hulk sniffed at Tony in his armor, “Hurt! Need puny Bruce.”

“After all the spider-bots smashed, so go!” Ironman zipped up and away into the sky. He added to the rest of the team, “It seems to be an attempt to get the arc reactor technology as they seem to be targeting the lab and the arc reactors in the suit. If they get the old suit J.A.R.V.I.S can just blow it, but that is not an option I would like use as I’m kind of attached to this one, so if a spider-bot contacts me, I’d appreciate an assist.” 

“Retreat to your lab would be a reasonable option.” Natasha stated as her widow’s bite took down a bot.

“Since when have I ever been reasonable,” Tony stated as he took down another bot.

Steve and the Hulk were efficient in taking out the bots in the tower and J.A.R.V.I.S. took out another pair detonating the self-destruct on the old armor. Steve left Hulk guarding the lab and returned to the roof just in time to see Tony get hemmed in by the last three bots. As Tony shot one with his repulsor, a second grabbed his limbs and a third made for the arc reactor. Tony screamed through the coms, but moments later a well placed arrow took out one bot and the shield took out the other. 

A few minutes later and Cap declared all clear. Hulk had come upstairs and transformed back into Bruce who was waiting on the quinjet ramp. Tony landed and ordered J.A.R.V.I.S to lock down the tower. The ring apparatus removed the armor. By the end of the path Tony was staggering, leaving bloody footprints with each step. He collapsed into the quinjet ramp. Tony was covered in small cuts across the front and left side of his body. He was bleeding profusely from a deep wound on his left side.

Bruce immediately went to work as he ordered Clint to take the quinjet to S.H.E.I.L.D. Medical facilities over Tony's weak protests.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An early update... Back to work today, so daily updates no longer expected. Sorry.


	11. Back to Square one (Dec. 22)

Tony awoke to the familiar beep of medical equipment and a feeling of floating. He quickly identified, shield medical and the good painkillers.

“Ok,” Tony coughed and a straw was held to his lips. “What happened?”

“What do you remember?” came Bruce’s voice.

“Spider-bots after the arc reactor technology,” Tony groaned. “Damn, they trashed my tower, again!”

“You’ll fix it.”

“I passed out after I got out of the suit.”

“That large shard nicked the left iliac artery. You were bleeding out while you fought, though the suit did a decent job of keeping pressure on the wound. Once it was off your pressure dropped dramatically. You went into hypovolemic shock. The injury was misleading because the internal bleeding was much worse than the external, so you didn’t look that bad off. But you’ve been stitched up, had transfusions of whole blood and plasma and they are still pushing fluids. I am not letting you sign yourself out AMA until you finish your banana bag.” Bruce grinned, and then became serious again. “Unfortunately hiding out in the tower is no longer an option.“

“I wasn’t hiding, but I need to…” Tony began, but was stopped by Bruce.

“I’ve called Pepper. She is taking care of securing the tower until after the holiday and calling the construction crews. I know you weren’t here on SI business.” Tony turned frightened eyes to Bruce, “I suspect it’s very hard for you to be in the Manor, but I won’t let the others know.”

“I just had a couple of projects I wanted to finish that I couldn’t do there. That’s all. And J.A.R.V.I.S. had the projects in render mode, they should be done by morning, so I need…”

“You need to rest. You are coming back to the Manor where we can make sure you do.”

“Fine, “Tony grumbled, “After you pick up the crates from the render lab.” 

“Ok, just get some more rest. As long as you remain stable, we will leave at dawn.”

$$$ 

Tony rested quietly through the night. Bruce stayed with him in medical while the rest of the team went back to check out the damage to the tower and sleep on their relatively undamaged floors. J.A.R.V.I.S. directed Steve and Clint to the lab to retrieve the desired crates.

“What is this stuff anyway?” Clint asked.

Steve glared at the crates. “He is supposed to rest, not work.” 

“You have not lived with Sir long enough to know that he does not rest easily or well.” J.A.R.V.I.S. responded. “The Manor is severely lacking in technology and defenses. Despite the damage, I would prefer sir was here where I could better monitor his health and defend him. One crate has a portable work station. Given the updates to sir’s health Dr. Banner has provided I predict that as he heals you will find it impossible to keep him ‘off his feet’ as much as medically necessary unless his mind is sufficiently occupied. The workstation will allow him to do more while resting his body and allow me to better monitor his vitals. The second crate contains upgraded suitcase armor.”

“He’s not well enough to fight or fly,” Steve objected.

“Even so, the armor provides physical protection should the manor come under attack and necessary psychological piece of mind in light of this recent attack.” J.A.R.V.I.S. countered.

“Injured by a rocket explosion in his home,” Clint sighed. “That’s just fodder for PTSD fueled nightmares. I’ll grab the suit. What’s in the third?”

“The last of the team’s Christmas presents.” J.A.R.V.I.S. could not help but add, “No peaking Mr. Barton.” 

As they exited the lab, Steve sighed, "Perhaps today we will get the trees and wreaths done."

Soon the quinjet was packed and departed the tower back to the helicarrier. 

Bruce convinced medical to not fight Tony leaving AMA in return for a drowsy Tony allowing himself to be rolled into the quinjet still hooked to an I.V. drip to push antibiotics and fluids for the trip back to the Manor.


	12. Bruce and Blueberry Smoothies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back at the Manor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short bit of domestic life, as they settle back into the manor. Sorry, it doesn't advance the plot much, but scenes of caring teammates.

The quinjet landed at Stark Manor just before 9 AM. Tony grumbled a little about being carried into the manor bridal style by Captain America, but the short time he had to stand that morning to dress before leaving S.H.I.E.L.D. Medical had made him realize how badly he had shredded his feet running across the shards of the broken tower windows to get to the lab and the relative safety of a suit. He despised the thought of being confined to a wheelchair for the next few days, but Bruce had specified only limited crutching to allow the stitches on the deepest cuts to heal. That his feet hurt worse than the stab wound that almost killed him had been a surprise and made him willing to put up with Bruce’s restrictions for a little while.

Bruce had finally detached the IV just before landing and now Steve was settling him on a sofa they had moved into the grand ballroom where the stockings had been hung in front of the rose marble fireplace and a trio of trees, one twelve foot flanked by two eight foot tall trees, stood undecorated on the right hand side of the room. His mother’s beloved grand piano still stood on the left hand side of the room. Bruce had several pillows against the armrest so Tony was in a comfortable mostly upright position and Steve proceeded to bring over several more pillows so Bruce could prop Tony’s feet up.

“You need to keep your feet elevated for part of the day to reduce swelling. Are you comfortable?” Bruce asked.

“Will you two stop fussing!” Tony was getting exasperated. “Yes, I’m comfortable.”

“You need to eat something.” Steve stated. “Clint is making pancakes.”

Tony shook his head, he had been queasy on the quinjet. He didn’t think he could keep anything down.   
Steve opened his mouth to protest. Carrying the engineer from the quinjet he could have sworn he could feel the man’s ribs. He knew Tony had been spending a lot of time in the lab and not eating team dinners regularly so it was not a stretch to assume the man had lost weight. Before he could say anything else, Bruce interrupted. “It’s been a little over 12 hours since you got out of surgery. Are you still nauseous?”

Tony nodded.

“You are due for antibiotics and painkillers. Think you might be able to keep down a blueberry smoothie?”

“I can try.”

Bruce patted Tony’s knee as he stood and led Steve out into the kitchen to let Tony rest.

$$$

“Don’t you think he needs more than a smoothie?” Steve watched Bruce calmly assemble ingredients for the smoothie, some familiar, some not. “Do you know if he’s lost weight recently?”

Bruce’s head came up with that. “SI legal is always busy this time of year with all the knock-off products, Tony gets pulled into to explain copyrighted designs and proprietary software issues. Add that to normal SI R&D, work for SHIELD and now the Avengers, he had very little downtime. We all saw his schedule. Add engineering binges where he doesn’t come up for days to get that work done so he’s rarely eating, typical holiday stress and his tendency to get nauseated when overstressed and you have Tony losing weight. The tolerances in the suit are fairly tight so he has JARVIS monitoring his weight fairly closely. Usually this time of year he loses 5-7 lbs, this year it’s been over 15.”

Steve sat heavily on the chair. “So just a smoothie?”

“I am adding silken tofu for protein, but it hasn’t been 24 hours yet since his surgery, and the last thing we need is him pulling stitches if he can’t keep his food down.” The whir of the blender filled the air.

Clint turned from his cooking, “Is he ok?”

“He just needs to rest and let his body recover. Something he fails at spectacularly. While the nicked artery was the more dangerous injury, the numerous cuts to his feet are very painful. The limited mobility I am sure is frustrating him.” Bruce sighed.

“Anything can we do to help?” Natasha asked, with a pointed look over at Steve.

“Make your breakfast; enjoy it in the morning room. Leave him alone to rest for a few hours. Then go back to decorating, baking, whatever you were planning on doing today to enjoy the holiday, all of you. If he’s quiet let him rest; if he seems restless, try to draw him in to holiday activities. And don’t fuss at him if he wants to use the portable workstation he created to do some designs. It’s what he does.” Bruce pocketed Tony’s medicines and grabbed the smoothie and some yogurt and granola for himself and went out to take care of his friend.


	13. Decorating Daze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve finally gets a chance to decorate.

Bruce awoke to soft conversations from the other side of the room. He had settled on the end of the sofa and ate his breakfast while Tony took his medicines and drank his smoothie. Bruce had kept up the science talk for as long as Tony attempted to drink his smoothie. Bruce recorded how much Tony had managed to consume when he took the dirty dishes to the kitchen. He had been watching Tony carefully since before Thanksgiving and had been well aware of his emotional turmoil and the slow decline of his health. He glanced over and noticed Tony was still sleeping, so he straightened the blanket and went over to the others.

“How’s he doing?” Clint asked. He was starting to think Christmas would have been more fun at the tower, especially for Tony since he was essentially immobilized by his injuries.

“Ok, for now,” Bruce answered, “what’s the big debate?”

“I was just noticing that the ornaments are organized by color, each color then broken down by size.” Natasha seemed evasive, but Steve spoke up.

“They are beautiful hand blown glass ornaments, they don’t seem very personal.” Steve commented.

“Were you expecting to find a tiny Tony handprint or other sentimentality?” Tony’s voice suddenly rang across the room. Four pairs of eyes looked at him. “I told you, Howard was an atheist and while Maria made sure to attend mass, the decorations were purely for show, a backdrop for galas and parties to support SI business and their sponsored charities and to improve her social standing.”

“So the ornaments we brought won’t cover the large tree and I am betting that none of you are into the professional monochromatic tree, is that the problem?” Bruce summarized. The others nodded.

“So mix them up!” Tony commanded with a smile. “Or will mixing up the ornaments get the Captain’s spangled knickers in a twist?”

Steve started to protest when Clint exclaimed, “Everyone pick an ornament and place it where we think best, not follow a plan – I would never expect such a suggestion from you Stark!” Clint’s eyes sparkled and Steve realized he had not heard this type of playful banter between these two in weeks. 

“Captain America cannot condone the chaos. “ Steve attempted to get the voice he used on the battlefield. “But Steve Rogers approves. Ok, folks, let’s decorate.”

Bruce wandered over to Tony. “Think you could eat some lunch now, you didn't have much breakfast?”

Tony shook his head.

“Do you want me to get the wheelchair so you can help decorate?” Natasha asked, coming over. “I promise I won’t let Clint drive.”

“No thanks. Bruce, can you grab the portable workstation?”

“Sure, Tony.”

The crate unfolded at the touch of a button, creating a work table and surrounding Tony in the blue glow of holographic displays. “JARVIS, let’s get back to work. Pull up the last 5 project schematics and put on some seasonally appropriate lab work music.” Trans Siberian Orchestra’s the Lost Christmas Eve filled the room.

$$$ 

The team stepped back from the trees with satisfaction. Bruce went off to make sandwiches for a late lunch. 

Steve turned to the sofa where Tony was immersed in the blue glow of holograms. “So Tony, think you are up to giving is directions on how to make the wreaths?”

“Sure, let me just save this.” Tony had been working reclined with his feet elevated per Bruce’s request. As he shifted position and sat up, he realized that after all the juice and water Bruce had been insisting he drink that he now really needed to empty his bladder. “Where are my crutches?”

“Why?” Bruce entered with a platter of sandwiches and Clint carried water and juice. They placed them on the sideboard and Bruce placed a plate with a half sandwich and juice on the table next to Tony.

“That. You keep pushing fluids, now I need to get rid of them!” Tony growled with no heat at Bruce.  
“That’s great!” Bruce’s enthusiasm had Tony raising an eyebrow, so Bruce explained, “you were starting to go into hypovolemic shock from blood loss. That can result in organ damage, especially to the kidneys. If you were still in medical they would have you hooked up to an IV and catheterized to measure your input/output volumes.”  
“Do YOU need to measure my pee?” Tony looked aghast.

“No,” Bruce stammered. 

“But you want to,” Tony waggled his eyebrows at Bruce and Steve blushed with embarrassment. 

Clint dissolved into giggles while Natasha looked around thoughtfully. “Bruce told me to put the walker in the nearest bathroom, but I do not see your crutches. Did you bring them off the quinjet?”

“I didn’t bring anything off the quinjet.” Tony answered, looking over at the super-soldier. “Steve insisted on carrying me across the threshold.”

“You must be feeling better if you are picking on Steve again.” Bruce shook his head at Tony. “And with both feet injured I think you may find shuffling with the walker less painful than crutches and more maneuverable than the wheel chair. Also until the gash in your side and other sutures heal a bit, you would be better off without the stress crutching or pushing yourself in a wheelchair. I put the wheelchair and crutches in the downstairs guestroom next to the bathroom.”

“Fine, but how do I get to the bathroom now?” Tony glared as Steve came over with open arms. “Really?”

“Humor us.” Natasha glared at Tony, suddenly serious. “The thought that you could have died alone in your Tower at Christmas did not sit well any of us.”

$$$

Steve deposited Tony gently on the walker’s seat. “I’ll be just outside if you need me.”

Tony used the walker’s handles to push himself upright. The sharp pain from his feet had him gasping for air. He quickly sat down again.

“Are you ok in there?” Steve had obviously heard his quick intake of breath. 

“Yeah, I’m ok,” Tony managed to get out without his voice shaking. Any contact of his feet against the floor hurt. He made the executive decision that he could pee from a seated position, as well as wash his hands. “Ok, I’m done.”

Steve picked up Tony again. Before the exertion of the bathroom visit he had been joking with them, now he was shaking with exhaustion in Steve’s arms. Steve placed him gently back down on the sofa and pulled the heavy blanket back over him. 

“Tony, you don’t need more antibiotics until after dinner, but if you can manage some lunch, I’ve got your next dose of painkiller.”

It took a good ten minutes for the shaking to subside and other fifteen before Tony felt up to trying to eat. But Bruce had made a simple half sandwich that Tony managed to eat.  
The team lingered over lunch, and kept up light conversation until Tony had perked up a bit, the food and painkillers doing trick. Then Steve and Clint brought in the wreath frame and greenery.

Tony sat up long enough to show how to create the greenery bundles and wired the first few to the frame. Clint and Natasha were quickly making wreaths, but Bruce and Steve took longer as Steve had trouble moderating his strength to not break the branches or bend the wreath frame. Tony chucked as he sat back and dozed off to the sounds of the team working around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Snow storm Helena dropping a foot of snow on my neighborhood gave me a chance to write, and everyone had a pretty good day.


	14. Past Parallels

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for a short chapter that is mostly flashback.

_Tony lay on the sofa. His feet were hurt, his side hurt. He was reading a book from the pile that had been placed by the sofa, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He heard heavy footsteps and realized that Howard had returned to the manor early. He was not supposed to return until late as he was busy planning this summer’s search for Captain America in the Arctic. Immobilized from his injuries from being kidnapped, there was nothing Tony could do to hide the books._

_“What the hell is this?” Howard grabbed the book and hurled it into the ashes in the large fireplace._

_“Aunt Peggy gave me…” Tony’s explanation was cut off by a slap across the face. “You know you shouldn’t be wasting time with fiction. You are supposed to be studying materials science and working on that design I gave you.” Howard had pulled Tony off the sofa and was dragging him towards the lab. With two broken legs Tony would be trapped in the cold lab until someone came to get him. He was supposed to rest, keep his legs elevated and stay warm, since they did not want him catching cold with broken ribs. But Howard felt that two weeks were more than enough time, Tony had spent a week in the hospital and almost two weeks resting at home. Just enough time to get restless, hence Aunt Peggy’s gift of books, but, in Howard’s mind, if Tony was well enough to read, he was well enough to work._

_“I’ve tried but the medicines make it difficult to concentrate.”_

_“Stark men are made of iron. You don’t need them anymore.”_

_Tony tried to work. But his brain felt like molasses. He was cold and had missed dinner. It was bedtime, but with his injuries he couldn’t make it up the stairs. He realized no one would come looking for him until tomorrow at the earliest. Maria had insisted Edwin Jarvis drive her into the city to get supplies for the garden party she was planning for later in the month. Ana Jarvis had gone to visit family back in Hungary and wasn’t due back for another week. She had delayed her trip when he was kidnapped, and had kept him company at the hospital. She had only agreed to leave when he got out because Howard would fuss at her coddling him and she didn’t want to make things awkward for her Edwin. Without Edwin and Ana there, no one would come looking for him._

_Tony had no idea how long he had been down in the lab. It was obviously day again as he could smell something baking. His stomach rumbled. He was tired of being cold. His chest hurt, his legs ached, and he saw only one way out. After pushing his rolling chair to the base of the stairs he tumbled off of it and began to drag himself up the stairs. He had only made it halfway up before his chest hurt too much and he had to stop._

The team was in the kitchen again, assembling dinner, when Bruce’s phone chimed with an incoming message from JARVIS. 

“Sir appears to be having a nightmare.”

“Excuse me,” he told the others, “I need to go wake Tony.”

“Nightmares?” Clint asked.

“Some urgency is required. He has rolled off the sofa and appears to be sleepcrawling.” The AI reported, confusion evident in his voice. 

Steve made it to the common room first, but stopped in his tracks at the sight of Tony dragging himself across the ballroom floor. He was unsure what to do.

Bruce went over and attempted to gently wake Tony. They spoke quietly for a moment and then Bruce motioned Steve over. After they had him resettled on the sofa Clint spoke  
up.”What was that all about?”

Tony took a deep breath. “I was hurt during a kidnapping attempt around my tenth birthday. When Howard refused to pay ransom, they broke my legs hoping my screams would convince him to change his mind. He didn’t. Luckily I was rescued a few days later. Anyway at one point during my recuperation I was spending my days on this very sofa. The nurse had requested the day off, which was approved, but no one told the house staff. Jarvis was driving Maria into the city and I had started the day with Howard down in the lab. There was no one when I needed to leave, so I ended up crawling up the lab stairs. I guess I was dreaming about that. Sorry about the sleepwalking, crawling, whatever you want to call it.”

The team looked on with various expressions of shock and disgust. 

“We are working on dinner,” Bruce looked at Tony intensely, “think you feel up to sitting at the table for a short time?”

“If it’s ok with my doctor?” Tony asked jokingly. They were both surprised when Natasha spoke up. 

“I have finished making the salads. I think I’ll read in here for awhile. Mind if I share your sofa?”

Tony nodded. Natasha sat and settled his feet on her lap, one hand on his ankle to ground him. Tony closed his eyes to rest until dinner was ready.


	15. Memories Unlocked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bad and finally some good things remembered

Tony sat at the end of the table, as it was easiest to roll the wheelchair to the end. Clint and Natasha sat next to each other on the left, Bruce and Steve on the right. When he realized he was sitting in Howard’s old spot he froze, dropping his spoon. It splashed soup on Bruce and Clint.

“Hey man, what’s the deal?’ Clint spluttered, “Food fight?”

“Tony, are you ok?” Bruce turned concerned eyes as Tony rolled back from the table.

“Howard’s spot.” He whispered as if that answered anything.

Steve asked confused. “Tony? Is that a problem?”

Tony nodded. “Steve would you mind switching seats with me? Knowing he spent years searching for you, it would feel right.”

“Sure, Tony.” Steve and Bruce shuffled the place settings and everyone settled back to eating.   
As they moved on to the main course Steve spoke up, “So that map in the lab with all the dates on it, were those all Howard’s expeditions to find me?”

“Yes,” Tony nodded. “He never stopped looking. He was gone for at least six weeks every summer, more often three months, August to October.”

“Wow, you weren’t kidding when you said obsessed.” Clint shook his head.

“No obsession was Howard not believing that he managed to finally father a child on the brief week in September that he left the expedition to deal with an SI emergency, so every time there was an improvement in paternity testing you had to provide yet another sample to prove you were actually his son.” Tony mumbled.

The table fell quiet.

“Crap, I said that out loud didn’t I.” Tony stared at his food. “On the plus side I got to see Howard grovel with expensive gifts to Maria every time he did that, since I somehow manage to let that tidbit of information slip out.” Tony waggled an eyebrow and got a laugh. 

“You were a troublemaker.” Clint accused.

The meal concluded without straying into emotionally fraught territory again, and after settling Tony into a downstairs guestroom they all headed off to bed. Unfortunately, all too soon, the nightmares started again.

_Tony wondered how long he had been stuck down in the lab. He thought he could hear voices, so there was probably someone in the kitchen, but with the soundproof and his broken ribs, there was no way he could call loud enough for someone to hear him._

_“Master Tony! Has anyone seen the young master? It’s not like he could just wander off with two broken legs. Master Tony!”_

_That was Jarvis’ voice. The only one who would look for him, the only one who might look for him here. “Jarvis!” His attempt to call out resulted in a painful coughing fit that left him doubled over. Jarvis would never hear him._

_“Sir would not have expected him to work in the lab in his condition, would he?” Jarvis asked himself as he opened the lab door. “Master Tony!”_

_The relief Tony felt at the sound of Jarvis voice was short lived as he heard the anger and concern. “Sorry.” He whispered, a painful cough escaped him._

_“You have nothing to be sorry for, but Tony! Oh, Master Tony what hap…” A glance down at the worktable covered in half finished designs left no doubt in Edwin’s mind what had happened. “Let’s get you out of here.”_

_Jarvis yelled up the steps, “Someone ring the doctor. Get some blankets and water.”_

_“Sorry, I’m so much trouble,” Tony sobbed curling into Jarvis’ warmth._

_“Never young sir,” Jarvis’ soft words were replaced a blur of doctors and hospital again._

_He spent three days in, but only remembered the last two. Pneumonia was the diagnosis, and he discovered he hated oxygen masks. He remembered waking and calling for Jarvis and having his Aunt Peggy comfort him. “He has gone to the airport to get Ana, he’ll be back soon.”_

_His mom, Maria, stopped by, but she was busy with her garden party. With Howard on expedition, Jarvis managed to convince Maria that not having Tony underfoot in the main house while she prepared for the party would be for the best._

_He remembered being set up in the guest room in the butler’s cottage. Those weeks of recuperation were among the happiest in his life, despite being feverish and exhausted from pneumonia and in pain from his broken ribs that he had re-broken in his crawl up the stairs. Ana was always available with a cool cloth, warm broth or soothing words. Ana and Jarvis both read to him when he was too weak to read, and kept his mind occupied as he started to heal._

Tony awoke with a start. While he still mourned their deaths, he realized there was one place in the mansion he felt safe and could actually sleep. He picked up his crutches and began his slow journey to the cottage.


	16. The Cottage

“Breakfast is ready.” Steve announced. “Should somebody go wake Tony, or should we let him sleep?”

“He needs the sleep,” Bruce sighed, “but he needs another dose of antibiotics and they shouldn’t be taken on an empty stomach, so we need to wake him.” 

“I’ll go get him,” Clint offered. “I get to drive the wheelchair!” he shouted to Natasha as he left the room.

He was back a minute later, “Stark’s done another runner. His room is empty.”

“Do you think he was sleepwalking again?” Natasha asked.

“Quite possible,” Bruce surmised. “We need to find him.” 

“The crutches were missing from the room, everything else was still there.” Clint added.

Steve took charge. “Let’s get searching. Since his old room was upstairs, Clint and Natasha search the 2nd and 3rd floors. Bruce, can you search the ground floor, basement and lab areas? I’ll take the grounds.”

“JARVIS, do you have any idea where Tony is?” Bruce questioned the AI through his phone.

“Sir does not appear to have left the grounds, but I am not integrated there so I cannot narrow down your search. I have set your phones to walkie-talkie mode for the search.” 

$$$

Tony slept. After making his way across the grounds he was exhausted. He collapsed on the sofa memories of other visits with the Jarvis’ filling his head.

_“Edwin, let the boy rest.”_

_“Ana, I don’t approve either. But Howard’s temper will be so much worse when he gets home if this doesn’t get done.”_

_“But he’s sick. Doesn’t the child get a chance to be well before working.”_

_“Howard would not approve of us molly-coddling him on our couch. Stark men are made of iron.”_

_“Edwin Jarvis!”_

_“If I agreed with Sir, I would have left Tony to suffer in his room alone. Now do your best to help him feel better, but if the young sir feels well enough to finish the design, give him the chance to do so. I have to drive Maria into the city again for the upcoming garden party.”_

_Tony finished the designs from that sofa, and Ana read to him when his fever was too high for him to focus on the page._

$$$

They had been searching for almost an hour. The house was clear, the garage, pool house and conservatory empty. Steve approached the cottage on the grounds. “I have spotted what might be a crutch print and a bit of cloth, possibly from his bandages on the path to the cottage.”

“That sounds like our best lead, we shall join you.” Natasha responded.

Bruce added, “I’ll join you too after I grab the med kit.”

Within five minutes they were gathered at the cottage door. They crept inside quietly so as not to startle Tony if he was there. The front door opened into a small entrance way with two rooms, a sitting room and a small office, set up more like a library. In the sitting room was Tony sprawled sleeping on the sofa. 

“I hate to wake him, but he got the bandages wet and dirty and I don’t want to wish an infection, especially as impatient as this patient can be.” Bruce smirked.

“Before you wake him, I think you want to see what is over here.” Clint announced.

In that room was the memories of Tony’s childhood. Not just the framed newspaper articles and magazine covers, but the circuit board too. More importantly, the tiny handprint in plaster, the hand drawn card, height measurements on the doorframe, all the memorabilia of childhood that a loving parent would have kept, but they were here in a stranger’s cottage. Photos on the wall showed Howard with Colonel Phillips, a young soldier in the background. Another photo displays the same man and a woman getting married, with Howard as the best man, followed by one with Peggy and Howard with the same couple. A wall filled with pictures of them with Tony at science fairs and swimming competitions, all with Tony smiling. As Tony grew the pictures were less frequent and his smile not as large, but it was still such a different smile than the media smile they all knew so well. Bruce was sure he had seen that real smile when they made a breakthrough working together in the lab, but he wasn’t sure if the rest of the team had really seen it.  
“I don’t understand.” Steve shook his head, and then turned at the sound behind him.

“Edwin and Ana Jarvis were the best thing that ever happened to Howard and in turn was the best thing that ever happened to me. Ana was a Hungarian Jew. Edwin fell in love and compromised his military career to try to get her to safety away from danger. Howard used his money and influence to smooth things over, Edwin became his driver, butler and even worked with Peggy Carter back in the states to clear his name of treason charges. Ana was shot during one of those ‘escapades’ and couldn’t have children. So they were a little more involved in my life than the job description would entail.” Tony gave a sad smile.

“Tony, I need to change the bandages on your feet.” Bruce motioned back to sofa in the other room. “And if you want to sleep here tonight, you can catch a ride, just like you will this morning.”


	17. December 23 - Christmas Cookies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wandering genius has again been located and the team sees hints of his past.

“So why did you wander off in the middle of the night?” Steve did not give voice to the disapproving “again”, but it was obvious and Tony flinched slightly at the reprimand. 

Bruce was more concerned with the damage Tony had done to his feet. The wet bandages had irritated the numerous small cuts and he had pulled a few stitches on one of the deeper ones. Bruce cleaned and dried the wounds, used butterfly bandages on the worst of the pulled stitches. He then rewrapped Tony’s feet in fresh bandages.

“I woke up in the night, disoriented. I guess the similarities of my injuries now to ones in my childhood had my sleep-addled inner child seeking out memories of past comfort. 

Sorry for messing up everyone holiday, again.”

“You haven’t messed anything up, Tony, except your feet. So … JARVIS?”

“Yes, JARVIS was named for Edwin Jarvis.” Tony smiled fondly.

Steve still seemed confused. “But why did you come all the way out here?”

“In that kidnapping where I was hurt, they broke a few ribs as well as my legs. Since you tend not to breathe as deeply because of the discomfort of broken ribs, it’s easier for a cold to turn into something worse,” Tony paused for a moment looking at Bruce who nodded in confirmation. “I got sick after my extended time in the cold and damp of the basement lab and spent three days hospitalized for pneumonia.” Tony paused again, taking a deep breath before continuing. “With Howard off searching for Captain America, and Maria focused on the upcoming garden party that was to be the society event of the summer, Edwin and Ana managed to convince Maria that it was easier to keep me out of the way of the party preparations by letting me stay here with them. For all of my aliments, I felt safe and cared for. After having to hear my own father repeatedly refuse to pay ransom as they broke first one leg, then the other, I needed to know that someone cared.” Tony looked away from the team as he tried to get his emotions back in check. 

Steve’s question had torn open old wounds and Tony did not need everyone staring at him while his heart was torn open and a distraction was needed. “We have put up the trees, hung the stockings, have wreaths and decorations all around the mansion…what’s the plan for today?” Natasha asked, almost dreading the answer.

Steve turned to look at Natasha but before he could answer, Clint shouted out, “Cookies! We need to bake some Christmas cookies!” Clint bounced on his feet like an overexcited puppy.

“What type?” Steve sighed, realizing this was going to be a disaster in the making. 

“One of the ladies in the circus was Bulgarian.” Clint said. “She always made a jam filled cookie called maslenki at Christmas.”

“Gingerbread!” suggested Bruce from his place on the floor where he was checking the wound on Tony’s side.

“Pryaniki,” Natasha offered shyly, “they are a Russian spice drop.”

“What about you, Steve?” Clint asked, realizing Tony was still not

“We didn’t have the ingredients for Christmas cookies growing up, so I guess a basic butter shortbread or sugar cookie would be my choice.” Steve stated. 

“Sugar cookies!” Clint crowed, “Can we get colored sugar crystals and sprinkles to decorate?” 

“Only if we get the edible ball bearings, too!” Tony showed interest in the conversation for the first time.

“Ana would help me make Maria’s favorite Italian Christmas cookies every year.” Tony took a deep breath. “Her recipe book may still be in the kitchen.” Tony moved to get up, but Bruce put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

“Stay put. Do you remember what it looked like?” Bruce asked, wandering into the kitchen.

“It’s pink. There is a picture of a flamingo on the front. How to Cook Bernard Stark is written on the front.” Tony held up his hand to silence the team’s questions. When Bruce returned he explained. “Howard had a menagerie of creatures at his Los Angeles residence in the late forties. One was a flamingo named Bernard that was a bit of an escape artist and Jarvis was tasked with retrieving him. It even bit him once. Peggy gave Ana the cookbook as a jibe at Jarvis.” Tony held the cookbook with reverence. 

“Ok, so let’s try again with breakfast and then we bake cookies.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the delay in posting. During winter break and the snowstorms I was able to do daily updates. Now I am back to work and end of term grading and so updates will most likely be weekly. But I hope to wrap up the story in the next few chapters with Christmas Day.


	18. Baking Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A slightly longer chapter to make up for the unexpected delay in posting.

$$$

Tony surveyed the cold ruin of breakfast. “I am sorry about ruining another meal. Are we going to need more groceries?”

“We could probably use more eggs, milk, butter, sugar and flour, especially if we are going to be making cookies.” Bruce stated as he looked in the large fridge.

Tony sat in the wheelchair in a corner of the kitchen while the others salvaged what could, reheating some of the food and tossing the rest. He felt useless, so he had Jarvis find a grocery store that would deliver and prepare an order. “I will need ricotta cheese for my cookies, so I am preparing a grocery order. Anyone else’s cookies need special ingredients?”

“Rose jam is traditional, but really hard to find. Raspberry or apricot will do.” Clint said.

“We’ve got everything we need for gingerbread and shortbread cookies.” Bruce said checking the spices.

“Do we have nutmeg, anise, cardamom and cloves?” Natasha asked.

“Tony, add cardamom and anise to the list.” Bruce relayed.

“Ok, so decorator sugars and edible ball bearings added as well and the list is complete. JARVIS arrange fulfillment and delivery.” A few minutes later Tony informed the team, “We should have everything we need for the cookies by this afternoon.”

“And breakfast is ready so let’s eat!” Steve ordered as carried it plates out to the table.

$$$

After breakfast, Tony was settled on the sofa with his portable workstation and the others retreated to their rooms to wrap presents. As his gifts came off the fabricator they had been boxed and wrapped by the bots. Over the years Butterfingers had become quite efficient at wrapping prototypes for shipping so switching to holiday wrapping had been a simple task. He checked on the bots and tried to finish a project for SI. 

The additional groceries arrived just after lunch and they all headed to the kitchen to bake their cookies. As they gathered around the kitchen island, Steve turned to look at Tony in the wheelchair and then back to Bruce. Tony rolled his eyes. “There should be a tall stool down in Howard’s lab at the drafting table. If one of you can fetch it, it should be tall enough for me to work at the island.”

“I’ll grab it.” Clint volunteered. “I haven’t seen Howard’s lab yet.” He rushed off to the lab.

As Clint went down the steps to the lab, the first thing he noticed was how much colder it was in the basement lab. The near end of the lab had a finished concrete floor, but the far end was unfinished dirt floor. A smelter and crucible were near that area. One wall was filled with shelves holding strange devices left in various stages of completion. He saw what must be Howard’s desk and the map Steve had mentioned, covered with pins marking the locations of different searches, each labeled with the date of the search. He couldn’t help peeking in the drawers. He found a large bottle of scotch, mostly empty, in one drawer, a picture of Howard in a 3 piece suit, Steve in his Captain America uniform and a young lady in SSR uniform in front of a large military tent in another. A large workstation was in the middle of the room, a small workbench was tucked in a corner off to one side. The magazine covers of Tony’s first circuit board at age 4 and engine at age 7 are pinned to the wall. A patent application in Anthony Stark’s name for a system to prevent misfires is dated June of 2001. Tony was just 10 years old. “You are only as good as the work you do” is posted on the wall. Clint started to wonder if Tony ever really got to be a child. He finally remembered his mission and noted the drafting table. He headed upstairs with his prize. 

While Clint was hunting for the stool, Bruce quickly assembled his gingerbread cookie dough and set it in the refrigerator to chill. He found himself watching his teammates and wondering if the others realized just how much Tony was torturing himself trying to create a dream Christmas for the team. The mansion was a minefield of memories for Tony, and very few seemed to be pleasant ones. As “science bros” he had quickly become close to Tony. With JARVIS’s access to resources, Tony had quickly surmised much of Bruce’s past, his violent father abusing him and his mother, killing his mother when he was still a young child. On one late night lab session after he had turned down a beer Tony had offered, he had admitted to Tony that he didn’t drink not only for fear of releasing the Hulk, but also for fear of becoming his like father. When Tony sympathized, Bruce had tried to suggest that Tony’s understanding came through shared similar experiences. Tony admitted Howard was a shitty father, emotionally cold and always busy with work, but denied any abuse. From Bruce’s reckoning there was verbal and emotional abuse where Howard constantly belittled Tony, comparing him unfavorably to Captain America. Howard was emotionally distant and neglectful as Tony cited, but he also inflicted numerous “accidental” injuries when he worked while intoxicated, constantly handing a young child objects that would cut, freeze or burn to the point that to this day Tony had an issue with being handed things. He swore Howard never beat him, only the occasional drunken backhand which Tony claimed he probably deserved as he turned the famous Stark snark back upon his father. But all Bruce could think about was how Tony isolated in the mansion for years as a child and later at school due to his youth and advanced knowledge. No one would come to his rescue and risk the wrath of the wealthy and powerful Howard Stark. 

“Bruce, have I grown a second head or something? You are staring.” Tony interrupted Bruce’s train of thought.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Bruce stammered and blushed. “Actually I was wondering if there were any cookie cutters hidden away to make gingerbread men.”

“Damn, I knew I should have ordered the Avenger’s set. Make a note, J.” Tony smirked. “Meanwhile, check the butler’s pantry. If you can find the holiday service, then the   
Christmas cookie cutters are probably close by.” 

“Success!” Clint declared as he made his way back up from the lab carrying the stool.

Steve helped get Tony settled on the stool and then poked his head into the pantry, “Holiday service?”

“Yes, the Spode Christmas tree.” Tony sighed, “It’s everywhere now but when it first came out in 1938 it was fairly special. We should pull it out for Christmas Dinner.”

Bruce came out with the cookie cutters and found himself watching Tony again. It was obvious he had made these cookies before. He referred to the recipe book for the exact amounts of ingredients, cooking time and temperature, but the assembly was done by muscle memory. He had obviously made these cookies many times with Ana Jarvis as a gift for his mother, Maria. 

The team had a pleasant afternoon baking and decorating cookies and soon had enough to satisfy even the enhanced metabolisms of half the team. 

$$$


	19. Carols and Movies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After baking Christmas cookies, the team has a pleasant evening of carols and movies.

After the baking was finished, Bruce insisted Tony rest with his feet elevated while the team cleaned the kitchen. Tony checked on plans for Christmas Eve with JARVIS and was surprised to discover between one blink and the next that it had become dark outside the ballroom windows. He awoke to gentle fingers carding through his hair and a hand on his forehead surreptitiously checking his temperature. He recognized Natasha’s soothing touch and opened his eyes to find his head pillowed in her lap and Bruce pulling up a chair at his feet. JARVIS said you are running a low grade fever so I need to check on your injuries again. Bruce first checked the injury to Tony’s side. The poking and prodding of this wound was uncomfortable, but not particularly painful. Bruce moved on to Tony’s feet. As a particularly painful spot was prodded, Tony yelped. Bruce shook his head sadly and applied antibiotic ointment to the worst of the cuts. As he rewrapped Tony’s feet, Clint came in with Tony’s antibiotics and the antipyretic Bruce had requested along with some juice for Tony.   
Bruce spoke as Clint helped Tony sit up. “You need to take these for the infection and fever; do you want the painkiller as well?” Tony shook his head and took the offered medicines, then allowed himself to be lulled back to sleep by Natasha’s gentle hands. 

The team had finished dinner and they were cleaning up and putting the leftovers away. Steve paused, “Shouldn’t we prepare a plate for Tony?”

Bruce shook his head. “Tony usually get nauseated when he has a fever, so I doubt he could keep much solid food down.” He turned back to the stove where he had started to prepare a clear broth for Tony. He added some miso paste and tofu and set it to simmer. 

Steve looked ready to protest again, when faint strains of piano music filled the air. The team turned as one to follow the sound. They walked into the grand ballroom and saw Tony at the piano, illuminated by moonlight streaming through the windows and the warm glow of the lights on the Christmas trees. As Tony finished the tune he was playing, he seemed to realize he was no longer alone.

Tony spoke softly. “Hey Cap, this one was popular in your time. I think the rest of you know this one.” He began to play again and the familiar strains of _White Christmas_ filled the room.

Cap broke into a huge grin, “I remember this, the USO even showed _Holiday Inn_ to the troops. Is it still popular?” 

“ _Holiday Inn?_ ” Clint asked perplexed.

“First movie the song was featured in, _White Christmas_ came out over a decade later.” Tony explained.

The team sang a few Christmas carols and then Bruce insisted Tony eat. So they moved to Howard’s old screening room to view and compare the two films. After the movies, the team got Tony settled into bed in the butler’s cottage and hoped that his happy memories of the Jarvis’ home would keep him from roaming in the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I haven't forgotten this fic. Life and work when to hell in a hand basket. So a short chapter to get back on track.


	20. Making Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony finally shares one good Stark holiday tradition.

Tony had never expected to sleep through the night, but he hoped that starting off in Jarvis’ cottage and having them bring over the portable workstation would help him stay grounded in happier thoughts. Steve tried to object to moving the workstation, arguing that Tony needed to rest not work. Bruce reminded him that through the workstation JARVIS could monitor Tony and let him know if there were any changes to his health that Bruce needed to deal with during the night. So when Tony awoke to the inevitable nightmare, JARVIS was able to help him remember where he was and not to wander. He worked for a few hours and fell back to sleep. The team was ecstatic to have JARVIS inform them that Sir would awakening within a few minutes and a delivery of coffee would be required. Clint volunteered to deliver the coffee and fetch the genius for breakfast.

As a pleasant team breakfast came to a close, Steve was smiling. Tony had managed his usual blueberry smoothie plus a cranberry orange muffin and a slice of bacon. Steve’s smile faltered when Tony wrung his hands and began to look uncomfortable.

“Ok, there is one Stark Christmas tradition that I kind of uphold. There used to be a Catholic Children’s Home near here. Every year a donation would be made by Howard and Maria to provide Christmas dinner and presents for the children. Even though it’s no longer a children’s home, I still make a donation each year in their names. They still provide shelter for children between foster placements, but their primary purpose now is to provide a stable place for children and families to stay during treatment at the nearby St. Mary’s Hospital. The past few years Iron Man has made an appearance to visit the kids before Santa arrives to deliver the presents.”

“Tony, you aren’t thinking of getting back in the suit yet.” Tony looked up to see the expected _Captain America is disappointed with you_ stare.

“No,” Tony sighed, “so they will just have to make do with the rest of the Avengers. Are you guys willing to suit up to make some sick kids day?” 

Steve, Clint and Natasha all nodded, but Bruce shook his head practically backing away from the table. “Tony, I can’t. The Hulk around kids, it wouldn’t be safe.”

“I think Hulk loves kids,” Tony grinned, “but I have other plans for you.” He grabbed the garment bag he had asked Clint to bring over. “Put on the suit.”

Bruce stared at the bag for a moment and then unzipped it like he expected it to bite. A luxurious red velvet, hand stitched Santa suit was revealed. “You want me to play Santa? I wouldn’t know what to say…”

“Well, I can’t do it. No one wants to see Santa on crutches. And if you take your comm unit, I should be able to talk you through it.” Tony smiled as Bruce tentatively nodded. “So we have a plan. We are to be there around 11:00 AM, so go get ready. Avengers Assemble.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter. I want to write but can't find the time or energy with troubles at work getting me down.


	21. Santa at Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Santa and the Avengers visit a children's home.

The team had been surprised when Happy had shown up just after 10 AM. He unloaded a large bag of presents from the SUV and then helped get Tony loaded into the vehicle.   
Tony was dressed in full eccentric billionaire mode, from the red sneakers on his feet, expensive suit in a deep dark green, light-up Christmas tie and tinted sunglasses. They departed so Mr. Stark would arrive at the home 11 AM. Father Michael greeted them and after Tony crutched up the stairs into the building, Happy got him settled into the wheelchair and rolled him into the main room where the children were gathered singing carols next to a large tree. 

“So Anthony, I see that you were hurt in that attack on your tower three days ago. May I inquire as to what exactly happened?”

“It was an attempt to steal some new tech from my lab. They blew out the tower windows and I got a little cut up. No big deal.”

“No big deal?” Father Michael shook his head at Tony. “Promise me you will at least try to take care of yourself. So, what is the plan for today?”

“The Avengers’ quinjet will be landing on your lawn in about 15 minutes. Steve, Clint and Natasha will be in uniform and exit first. Bruce is covering Santa duty and will exit a few minutes later when announced.”

Father Michael raised an eyebrow, “So who are these people on duty?”

“Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow and the Hulk…”

“The Hulk?”

“Dr. Robert Bruce Banner is my science buddy. We won’t be seeing his alter ego today. He’s a great guy, well they both are, though he won’t admit to it. Bruce is a little nervous about his new role, so we are doing our version of Cyrano. I’ll be feeding him the information you sent me about the kids through our comms so he can do that all-knowing Santa gig.”

“It still amazes me that you memorize all that data I send you on the kids each year.”

Tony smiled and ducked his head. Father Michael had known him since he was a child, he had spoken at his parents funeral. The sound of the quinjet landing interrupted his thought. Moments later, the children were running to the windows, curious to see what was going on.

“Look, it’s Captain America!” One boy shouted, practically vibrating with excitement. The children rushed outside, eager to see the ship and meet the Avengers. As the room emptied, Tony rolled over to the windows to watch. Steve was quickly surrounded by the children, and he still looked as uncomfortable with a crowd as he did back on the old USO show films Howard had. Clint, on the other hand, was a natural with the kids. He knelt down, showing kids his bow and answering questions with ease. Natasha seemed surprised by the attention, but she turned on the charm and demonstrated some of the tumbling moves she used in combat. She had several girls demonstrating their own cartwheels and asking if she knew any other girl superheroes. 

“Ok guys, it’s show time!” Tony spoke into his comm.

“Children, guess who we picked up on our way here?”

Santa-Bruce appeared on the quinjet ramp and announced his presence with a hearty, ”Ho! Ho! Ho!” 

Santa and the Avengers made their way into the building. They were greeted by the less mobile children, those in wheelchairs who could not easily go outside. Bruce began to maneuver through the masses and pulled open his sack.

“Ok, the little boy who is on your left is Joshua. He wanted a radio controlled car. His package is wrapped in the Cars wrapping paper.” Tony whispered into his comm.  
Bruce found the correct package and knelt before the boy, “Joshua, I have a gift for you.”

The child’s eyes lit up. He ripped into the paper and smiled. “Momma, look! It’s the car I wanted.”

“Ok, the little girl hiding behind you is Sarah. She loves to read and wanted a bunch of books. Her gift is wrapped in silver paper with a blue bow. Tell her this…”

Bruce turned to see a girl in a wheelchair. “I’m sorry I couldn’t fit all the books you wanted in the sleigh. I hope this works for you instead.”

She looked disappointed but nodded and thanked him. As he turned away, she opened the box. He father came up behind and began to push her wheelchair away. “Daddy, it’s an e-reader,” her smile returned, “And it’s loaded with over a hundred books!” 

“Steve, the next kid likes to draw. Bruce, there is an artist set for Joey wrapped in paper with multicolor ornaments.”

Steve glanced up from where he had been talking to Father Michael to see which child was Joey, and then he followed him to where he looking over the supplies. Within a few minutes they were discussing techniques and sketching together. 

As the gift giving wound down, Tony looked around. Clint was teaching some kids how to juggle and Natasha was helping a girl with a magic set. It looked like the Avenger’s Mission Santa had been a success despite his injury. He was distracted from his musing by a child’s cry, “Mr. Tony, Mr. Tony!”

“Jeremy, what are you doing here?” Tony braced himself as the boy climbed into his lap, wincing slightly when a knee hit the wound on his side.

“Christmas was the only time mom could get off for the surgery. But look at what I can do with my new hand!” The boy took on a look of intense concentration as he made his right hand open and close, then touched each finger to his thumb in succession. 

“So the neural controls are working, ok?” Tony asked, gently turning the boy’s arm as he nodded vigorously in response.

A nervous looking woman walked over, taking in the room full of Avengers interacting with the children. “Jeremy, Mr. Stark was hurt, you shouldn’t be climbing on him.”

“It’s fine really. I’m just supposed to keep off my feet for a few days.”

“I just wanted to say thank you.” Jeremy climbed down from his lap. “Thanks again, Mr. Tony!” Jeremy ran off to play.

Steve had finished his drawing and wandered over. “You make prosthetics?” He was confused when Tony looked away unable to meet his eyes.

“Peggy Carter married Daniel Sousa. He was chief of the west coast branch of the SSR. He had been Army Corps of Engineers before he lost his leg in the war, an above the knee amputation.”

Steve sucked in a deep breath. He knew Peggy had married, and the pictures had shown she had been involved in Tony’s life, it should not surprise him that Tony had been part of hers.

“I was five years old. I don’t know the circumstances but Daniel had been hurt, bruised ribs and broken right arm, so Ana was watching both of us while Edwin was driving Peggy and Howard around somewhere. Ana was cooking dinner and Daniel was resting without his prosthesis. It was the first time, I had seen the leg off. I had it disassembled when he awoke. He was understandably angry.

_Tony remembered that day so well. Daniel awoke and saw his leg in pieces. He was always calm and quiet man who rarely raised his voice, so it was the first time Tony had heard him yell. He flinched and curled into a protective ball, as he knew that tone of voice from Howard would soon be followed by at best a verbal thrashing, at worst a painful beating. Daniel saw the fear in his eyes and backtracked._

_“Tony, why did you take my prosthetic leg apart?”_

_“I’m sorry. I just wanted to see how it worked. I wanted to see if I can make it better, and I think I can.”_

_“I’m sure you can bub. Do you think you can put it back together now, so I can walk to dinner soon?”_

_“Sure Uncle Daniel!”_

“Everyone thinks my first patent was for a system to prevent misfires when I was ten, but that was the one Howard wanted to publicize as my following in his weapons designing footsteps. But I actually got a patent for that improved knee and ankle joint system for a prosthetic leg when I was five. Daniel arranged for me to meet with one of the guys who built legs for veterans. I got one penny for each time that joint system was used, enough to keep the patent rights but not drive up the cost. When I actually took control of SI, I added the prosthetics and computer robotics divisions.” 

“That’s…that’s really good.” Steve was once again realizing how wrong his first impression of Tony had been.

An uncomfortable silence grew between them, then Santa Bruce announced, “Well that’s it kids, it’s time for me to go. Ho! Ho! Ho!”  
The Avengers escorted Santa back to the Quinjet and they departed back to the mansion.


	22. Christmas Eve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas Eve activities

Tony ate lunch with the children and checked on some of the donated medical equipment and several of the kid’s prostheses before Happy picked him up to return to the mansion. Tony did not realize how much the day had taken out of him, until he found himself being lifted out of the SUV by Steve.

“Happy called and said you had dozed off on the ride back,” Steve said. “Bruce wants to check on how you are doing after your long morning.”

“I’m fine. You fuss too much.” Tony tried to hide his exhaustion but a yawn escaped as Steve settled him back on the couch.

“Brucie! I’ll let you poke and prod if you tell me how you liked playing Santa for the kids.”

“It was fun, but you feeding me the information on the kids was a huge help. I would have been overwhelmed without that. How do you manage to do it alone?” Bruce wondered.

“Father Michael sends me the information a few days before and I memorize it.” Tony said, twitching slightly as Bruce checked the cuts on his feet.

“The kids names and faces, their interests and which present is which?” Steve shook his head, incredulous.

“Well the presents have nametags…” Tony shrugged.

Bruce tucked a pillow under Tony’s legs to elevate his feet. “Rest for now, dinner in a few hours.”

$$$

As they gathered around the table for their Christmas Eve meal, conversation centered on the interactions the Avengers had with the children that morning. As the moved on to dessert Steve nervously began to speak, “So, my mom always insisted we go to midnight mass on Christmas Eve…”

“Howard was an atheist, believing in science and technology over a higher being, and I will admit I lean that way as well, but Maria always we attend mass and well…Father Michael is expecting me to show up tonight, so you are welcome to join me, Cap!”

“I have experienced many religious services and faiths in my travels.” Bruce began, “And ironically, the Hulk seems to find the rituals soothing, so I’ll join you.”

“The Red Room discouraged any belief, but insisted we understand the basic tenets of all faiths in preparation for any mission. It would be nice to experience a religious service outside of a mission or such constraints.” Natasha stated.

“Is it in English or Latin? If it’s English I’ll come along, too…” Clint added.

“Ok, so it’s all in.” 

$$$

“It’s crowded.” Steve stopped short in the entryway.

“Should we just stand in the back?” Clint suggested.

Bruce shook his head. “Tony just has his crutches. He needs to be able to sit.”

Natasha gently pushed Steve and Clint aside from where they had blocked the aisle. Tony crutched up the aisle towards the front of the church. Natasha noticed he was headed toward a pew with a temporary reserved tag. When she reached the pew she noticed a permanently installed brass plate on the pew simply engraved Stark. He murmured quietly to her as he took his seat, “The embarrassment of riches.”

While Steve quickly became emotionally invested in the service, Clint and Natasha could not shake their years of SHIELD training. They scanned the crowd, observed available exits and wondered if Stark attended mass here every year, where someone could plan to attack or kidnap Tony, or if this appearance was unusual and the Stark name on the pew was simply a relic from earlier years. Bruce, meanwhile, was closely observing Tony, ready to steady and support him if he stumbled. While recovering well from his injuries, the morning had been the most activity he’d had since the injury and Bruce feared the mass would be too much for the engineer. The service progressed through carols, prayers and the retelling of the Christmas story, then communion before the final hymn. Tony stumbled a little maneuvering out of the pew for communion, but Bruce and Steve kept him from falling while Clint snagged the tangled crutch before it could hit the ground. After the final candlelit hymn, Steve turned to leave but was stopped by a hand from Clint. He followed Clint’s eyes to glance back at Tony who was still seated, looking pale, and for a he though he saw a flicker of pain on his face before his press smile returned and Tony spoke quietly, “Just wait for the crowds to clear, Cap.” 

Father Michael strode up. “It was great to see you again, Anthony. The kids enjoyed your visit like always for the presents and the prostheses. I haven’t seen any paparazzi, but would you like to exit out the side doors anyway?” The priest turned to Clint, “You can bring the car right up to the door.”

Clint nodded and made his way out. Father Michael moved to get the last of the stragglers out of the church.

“That’s not necessary.” Tony moved to get up and gasped quietly.

“Tony, sit still. Rest until Clint brings the car around.” Bruce placed a hand firmly on Tony’s leg. “I have water and painkiller in the car, but you really shouldn’t be walking anymore tonight.”

Natasha shook her head, “We don’t have the wheelchair.”

“I’m not…” A death glare from Natasha stopped his protest. “Brucie, I’m so tired of this.”

“It's only been three days since the attack and your injury. Another few days and you should get your stamina back.” Bruce commented. “So if you were in the tower, you would be locking yourself in the lab, not resting.”

“I just have three words for you,” Tony pointed at Bruce “Rolling chairs, couch and JARVIS.” Bruce laughed and shook his head.

Natasha lifted her phone. “Car’s ready.”

Bruce and Steve helped Tony stand and move out of the pew, and then Steve lifted him into a bridal carry. Clint had come back into the church and led the way out. Bruce followed with the crutches and Natasha guard their backs.

Despite his best efforts to stay awake, Tony felt his eyes close in the warmth of Steve’s arms and Steve’s strong heartbeat in his ear. He awoke as he was shuffled onto cold leather seats. Bruce handed him some tablets and a bottle of water. “Anti-inflammatory, anti-pyretic and painkiller…I know you hate painkillers, but you need a good night’s sleep.”

“Good-night, Tony.” He heard repeated as he was covered with a blanket for the ride home. “When you awake it will be Christmas morning.”

Tony was warm and safe, but knew nightmares of Christmas past would soon be disturbing his sleep.


	23. Visions of Sugar Plums would make a nice change from Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nightmares of Christmases past lead to a restless night.
> 
> Trigger Warning: Graphic Depictions of Abuse of a Child  
> Skip the italicized nightmares to avoid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Revised chapter 23 as I realized I missed posting the last scene.

Tony barely stirred when Steve transferred him from the SUV back into the Jarvis’ cottage. The slipped of his shoes and removed his suit jacket, slacks and dress shirt, leaving him to sleep in his underwear. They tucked him under the blankets and left JARVIS to monitor him. As the team left Tony alone to sleep the nightmares came.

_He was five years old. He had been sneaking downstairs to see if Santa had come when he heard Howard’s raised voice from his parents’ bedroom. “It’s bad enough you fill his head with your religious beliefs, I will not let you continue this fiction of Santa Claus as well.”_

_“You would take Santa from a five year old?” Maria exclaimed._

_“I never would have wasted time with such fairy tales to begin with, but you insisted. It is high time for him to grow up. He gets one gift from us, one from the Jarvis’ and one from Peggy. I know they will both give something frivolous like fantasy books, toys, games or puzzles. He shouldn’t be wasting time with such things.”_

_“And you think a new soldering iron and upgrades to his toolkit acceptable. He’s just a child.”_

_“He’s old enough to start being useful.”_

_Tony made his way sadly upstairs, knowing there was no need to look for Santa ever again.  
_

Tony awoke with a sob.

“Good morning, sir. It is 2:47 AM on December 25th. It is…” 

“It’s ok, JARVIS. Just a bad dream, no panic attack.”

Tony rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. He had a feeling it was going to be a long night.

_  
It was cold in his room. It finally started to snow. He hoped he could make a snowman later, but it was hard to do alone. He had finished the designs Howard had wanted and delivered them by the end of the week as required. Now, as a Christmas present he had designed a new trigger system to help prevent misfires. He had just finished it last night and snuck the present under the tree. Tony had not known that Obidiah was going to show up for Christmas morning. Normally he was glad to see Obie, he just didn’t want to reveal his dad’s present in front of an audience. He was not sure how Howard would take it. He had hoped for praise from him, knowing full well that if it was good his father would then present it to the board as his own. Well, he got praise…_

_“Wow, you did this Tony?” Obidah pulled Tony into a strange side-shouldered hug. “You better watch out Howard or the kid’s going to surpass you before he reaches his teens.”_

_Howard chuckled, but Tony could see the bitterness in his eyes. “He’s following in my footsteps, but I still think it will be a few years before he’s ready to take the helm. A shame really, I could use a vacation; get away from all this cold."_

_“If you and Maria want to get away for a few weeks, you know I can keep things going.” Obidiah offered, neither Stark sensing his true motives behind the offer. “Seriously though, you should apply for the patent for that under Tony’s name. It would be good PR, show that the company’s future is secure, and so on. He might even be the youngest person to ever apply for a patent. Think of the headlines.”_

_“True. I did want to talk to you about some of SI’s contingency plans.”_

_Howard and Obidiah retired to the study. By the time they re-emerged for dinner, Howard was drunk. As soon as Obidiah left, Tony was called in. He knew it wasn’t going to be pleasant. When Tony was called into the study to face his father’s wrath, Howard usually had a glass of scotch in hand but not already inebriated. A single slap across the cheek for his smart mouth or disrespectfulness followed by the litany of ways that Tony was a disappointment and that he would always be a failure. Howard might pull out the belt if he was really angry, but that was thankfully rare. A drunk Howard was usually a careless engineer trying to work and needing a lab assistant. Tony would all too often be hurt by being handed things that were too hot or too cold, things that shattered or exploded. But angry and drunk led to this being the first time he had been truly beaten by his father. His stomach was bruised and one kick might have cracked a rib. His back was felt like fire and somewhat sticky and wet. He doubted if he would be able to sit, lay down or even walk comfortably for the next week. Edwin Jarvis would be livid, but the Jarvis’ were out of the country visiting Ana’s family and they were not due back until after the New Year, so he should be mostly healed by then.  
_

“It is 4:23 AM on Christmas morning. It is currently 27oF with light snow falling and scheduled to continue most of the day. You are in the Jarvis’ cottage.” 

JARVIS had managed to talk Tony back from his panic attack. Tony realized he had been screaming and hobbled to the kitchen for a glass of water. He stared out the window at the swirling snow. He had already had 2 nightmares in 4 hours and had at least another 4 hours to go before joining the others for breakfast and presents. Spend Christmas day with the team, then put away the decorations on Boxing Day and head back to the Tower on the 27th. He wondered if he could justify going back on the 26th to check on the contractors. He hobbled back to try and sleep once more. 

_  
It was snowing. The snow on top of the layer of ice made walking treacherous. As he waited at the front door of the mansion the thought occurred to him that he probably should have called first. He knew that the Jarvis’ would be on holiday, as Edwin would take Ana to see her extended family in Hungary. But he had expected Howard and Maria to be home. It was Christmas break, he had finished his first semester at MIT and the dorms had closed. He was 14, had they really not expected him to come home?_

_Jarvis had been so worried. His last exam was after they had planned to depart, Ana hoping to attend her grandniece’s nuptials. He had to work to convince Jarvis that he could use public transportation to get home like a normal college student; as he had been kidnapped from supposedly safe situations like boarding school and under the watchful eyes of security guards, he didn’t think he was at any greater risk taking the train home. When Rhodey learned that his young roommate had never taken a bus or train, he assured Jarvis he would make sure Tony got started safely on his journey home._

_The train ride had been uneventful, but he had to throw some money around to get a taxi to drive out to the Stark Mansion. Despite the ice storm and snow storm, he had made it to the mansion fine, only to find that it had been closed up. It was dark and there was no way in…on the ground floor. Unfortunately climbing the tree outside his room proved impossible with the layer of ice. He had almost made it to the top when an ice laden branch gave way. He grabbed for another branch, but could not get a grip on the icy surfaces. He slid and bounced his way down the tree. He hobbled back to front door on a sprained ankle and slid down to the wall in the dubious shelter of the entryway. He sat in the snow getting colder and cataloging his injuries. He has a sprained ankle, bruised ribs, numerous scrapes and was cradling his probably broken left wrist against his body. And worst of all, he was alone, without transportation or a way inside and the temperature was dropping._

“Sir, where are you going? Sir!” JARVIS had detected yet another nightmare but had been unable to break through to awaken him. His distress increased as Tony headed toward the door, obviously sleepwalking. He headed outside into the falling snow, clad only in a t-shirt, boxers and socks.


	24. Walking in a Winter Wonderland

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of another nightmare and round of sleepwalking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So when I went to post this chapter, I realized I had managed to cut off the end of the previous chapter, specifically the nightmare and sleepwalking event that they respond to this chapter. So if you have been reading as it posted, you need to go back to the end of last chapter. Sorry!

Dr. Banner phone rang at 6:33 AM. He briefly considered ignoring it, but curiosity won out. He answered to hear the voice of an alarmed AI. 

“Sir is sleepwalking again. He has exited the cottage. It is currently snowing and the temperature has been falling. He is not dressed for the weather and he will be in danger from hypothermia within 30 minutes.”

Bruce was dressed before JARVIS had finished and he stumbled out his bedroom door and almost crashed into Clint.

“JARVIS called?” Clint asked. Bruce nodded. They bumped into Steve and Natasha as they headed to the hall closet, grabbing coats, hats and scarves before heading out into the pre-dawn night. They planned to start at the cottage and spread out from there.

“Did anyone try calling Tony?” Steve asked.

Natasha shook her head, “I don’t think he has any pockets in his boxers.” 

 

_Tony wasn’t sure how long he had sat shivering in the snow when his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, belatedly realizing he had it and that it was undamaged. Rhodey's upset voice was heard as he opened it._

_“Tones, you promised to call when you got in.”_

_“Well, yeah…I haven’t actually got in yet.”_

_“What happened, Tony.”_

_“Nobody’s home.”_

_“What? What do you mean no one is home?”_

_“The house is dark, locked up. Looks like Howard decided to go someplace warm and didn’t bother to tell me. I tried to sneak in my bedroom window, but the tree was too slippery.”_

_Tony heard voices in the background. James Rhodes was explaining Tony’s predicament to someone in the background._

_“It will take us about an hour and a half to get to you. Can you get anywhere warm or at least out of the storm?”_

_“What? No! You don’t need to do that.”_

_“Just stay put.” Rhodey ended the call. It was at least half an hour later before Tony belatedly remembered that Ana hid a key to the cottage under a potted plant, much to Edwin’s chagrin. It was cold, but out of the storm. It took time to hobble to the cottage but before long he was dozing on the couch and soon after he heard voices._

_“Rhodey?”_

_James Rhodes entered the followed by a man who looked like an older, heavier version of him. Tony scrambled to his feet. “Tony, are you ok?”_

_“I’m fine.” Tony turned to the older man. “I’m so sorry to have inconvenienced you. I’m James’ roommate, Anthony Edward Stark, but most folks call me Tony.” As Rhodey had quickly become his first and only real friend at MIT (or anywhere if he was honest with himself), he was trying to be respectful to James’s dad and offered his hand to shake._

_Rhodey watched suspiciously as Tony attempted to convince his dad that he would be ok alone in a house that appeared to be shut up for an extended absence, heat and water turned off. He was ready to laugh knowing that his mother had gone ballistic at the thought of a 14 year old child coming home to an empty house for the holidays and had ordered them to fetch Tony before he could even ask. He was about to point it out when he caught Tony’s small wince as he shook his father's hand._

_“Tony, what did you do to your arm?”_

_“Nothing!” He succumbed to the twin glares of the Rhodes men and held out his arm. “I may have landed on it when I fell out of the tree.”_

_“That looks bad. Do you know the way to your nearest hospital?" Rhodey's dad spoke to Tony like he was a spooked animal, in soft quiet tones, "We best get it looked at before we get on the road.”_

_“Yes, but it’s really not necessary.” Tony began, but found himself being shuffled into the backseat of a car, his bags thrown into the trunk and Rhodey sliding in next to him. Two hours and one hospital visit alter later they were on their way to the Rhodes’ home with Tony sporting a new red cast on his wrist, his ankle wrapped and elevated on Rhodey’s lap.  
_

“Guys, I found him!” Clint spotted the missing genius first. He was huddled by the front door. He seemed to be caught in yet another memory. He knelt beside the smaller man. “Tony, you need to wake up.”

Bruce arrived a moment later, followed quickly by Steve and Natasha. Bruce who claimed to be “not that kind of a doctor” naturally took charge.

“Steve, pick him up and get him inside where it’s warm. Natasha and Clint, we need to get him warm and dry, so fetch towels, blankets, dry clothes and a hot water bottle if you can find one.”

Steve remembered the dangers of hypothermia from his time with the Howling Commandos, so he managed not to blush much as he helped Bruce strip Tony out of the wet clothes and begin toweling him dry. Natasha managed to find three hot water bottles and Clint returned with blankets, a pair of sweatpants, fuzzy socks and an oversized MIT sweatshirt.

Natasha and Clint worked seamlessly and quickly had the genius bundled up and tucked the hot water bottles by his hands and feet. “Where should we put the third?”

“Tony, are you back with us?” Bruce asked the shivering limp under the blankets.

Tony looked up, chocolate brown eyes focusing.

“Should I put a hot water bottle on your chest to warm the metal of the arc reactor?”

Tony managed a nod and Bruce slipped the water bottle under the shirt. Tony froze for a moment, then relaxed as Bruce moved away, showing his empty hands.

“Rest now and warm up. We’ll wake you for breakfast in an hour.”

As the shivering finally subsided, Tony slipped back asleep.


	25. Phone Calls and Family Found

At Bruce’s request, Clint had moved the portable workstation back to the sofa in the mansion where Tony now slept. This way JARVIS could keep an eye on Tony while they worked on breakfast. In a little over an hour the food was done and the team debated on whether to wake him or let him rest more. Before they could make a decision, they overheard JARVIS begin to speak.

“Sir! You need to wake up now, Colonel Rhodes is on the line.”

“Rhodey?” Tony struggled into a sitting position as JARVIS activated a camera and monitor and Colonel James Rhodes appeared on the screen. “Rhodey!”

“Tones! Did I wake you? You never sleep on Christmas Eve!”

“Long story, but never mind me – how are you?”

“I’m fine, I won’t be back in the states for another month or two, but then I should get a few weeks off. I’ve promised momma I’d drag your sorry ass for a visit. You haven’t called her. She’s worried about you, and said there was an attack on your tower in the news.”

“Oops.”

“Yeah, oops. She’s worried about you Tones. Makes me think I should be worried about you too.”

“Don’t worry sugar-bear. I’m fine. They just busted a bunch of windows on the penthouse level. They wanted the arc reactors from the suits, but couldn’t get past JARVIS to get anywhere near the lab or he bots.”

“Tony where are you? I can’t say I recognize where you are in the tower.”

“That’s ‘cause I’m not in the tower. The Capsicle clan wanted a traditional Christmas with a Santa capable chimney so we’re at the mansion.”

“You’re where?” Tony cringed slightly at Rhodey’s shout. “One, you hate that place, you’ve said yourself it gives you nightmares. Two, you said yourself Santa hasn’t visited there since you were five years old.”

“Four,” Tony mumbled. “I found out he wasn’t real Christmas Eve when I was five.”

“AND three, you remember what happened the last time you were there!”

“It was the reception after the funeral, of course I remember.” 

“No, it was Christmas eve, two days later. You had been drinking since the funeral and decided to add some pills to the party. You called me up slurring your words, making no sense. Your BAC was practically lethal before you tried to overdose on sleeping pills. Your heart stopped once and you stopped breathing twice. Get the hell out of that place, Tones, its poison for you.”

From their hiding place in the entryway Steve looked stricken, Bruce was looking green and Clint and Natasha shared worried looks. They wanted to think Rhodes was exaggerating, but the running back to the tower, night terrors and sleepwalking told a different story. They debated again about entering the room and interrupting when the conversation began again.

“Rhodey, It’s ok. I just have to get through today, we clean up tomorrow and head back to the Tower. They are probably not going to want to go back until the 27th, but I have a meeting with the contractors about the repairs late tomorrow afternoon, so I have to go back to the tower tomorrow.”

“I’d rather you got out of there tonight. You could use Mama wanting a visit as an excuse. If you don’t, I want you to call me the moment you are out of there. And I don’t want you alone there. You said the others are there, where are they?”

Tony sighed. Rhodey was the older brother he never had, and his protective streak had kept him alive through college and after the death of his parents, but he was a grown adult now. “Making breakfast, I think.” 

“They have the sense to keep you out of the kitchen, I see.” Rhodey joked, realizing he might have gone a little grizzly-bear.

“Hey, breakfast may not be strong suit, but his cookies are great!” Clint perched on the back of the sofa. “Merry Christmas, Rhodes.”

“Cookies for breakfast, Legolas?”

“Yup! Oh hey Bruce!”

“Don’t spoil your breakfast, Clint. Aren’t you supposed to be setting the table? Tony, how are you feeling?”

Tony’s head whipped towards Bruce. “I’m fine.”

“And why wouldn’t you be ok?” Rhodey fixed Tony with a glare through the screen.

“I got a bit cut up by some of broken glass in the attack. Bruce has been making sure I take care of myself.” 

“So you were hurt!” Rhodey shook his head. “Mama was sure you were. You definitely owe her a call and a visit, Tones.” He shifted his attention to Bruce. “That’s for watching out for him Dr. Banner.”

“I try. He doesn’t make it easy. He is mostly recovered from the tower attack. His feet were badly cut and he had one deep piece of shrapnel that put him into hypovolemic shock…”

“English, Dr. Banner?” 

“I lost a little blood. And I’m fine now.”

“Except for trying for hypothermia this morning,” Bruce glared back. “He’s been sleepwalking. This morning we found him sitting in the snow by the front door.”

Rhodey thought a moment, “Dreaming of Christmas break your freshman year of college?”

“Yes.” Tony whispered.

“He came home to find the manor empty, Howard had left the country, he was locked out in the middle of a winter storm.”

“You are going to visit and air all my dirty laundry, aren’t you?”

Clint leapt onto the sofa, bouncing them. “Ooo, Tony tales, sounds fun.”

“Why are you back, birdbrain?”

“Natasha said to tell you breakfast is ready.”

Bruce nodded. “Ok, tell her we will be right there.” 

“I’ve got to go too Tony.” Rhodes interrupted. “But promise me you will get out of there soon. I don’t think it’s healthy for you.”

“Merry Christmas sugar-bear.”

“You too, Tones.” The screen went blank. 

Bruce looked over at Tony. “I’m starting to agree with him.” Tony opened his mouth to speak but Bruce held up his hand for silence. “I appreciate that you are trying to create a dream Christmas for us, something most of us have never had. And that’s great, but not if you’re miserable. The point is that we get to do Christmas together. It didn’t have to be here. If you need to get back to the tower, get out of here, then go.”

“I doubt Cap will approve of my skipping out of festivities today or clean-up tomorrow.”

As if on cue, Steve wandered in. “You two coming to breakfast? After that Ciint says we need to do stockings and presents, then dinner with Christmas crackers.”

“We’ll be right there.” Bruce called out as he helped Tony.

“Can’t miss out on any of that.” Tony smirked. “But I'll go back early tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had hoped to finish this Christmas story by Easter, but headaches at work and other real life issues prevent me from writing more often than once a week or two. Hopefully only one or two more chapters.


	26. Christmas Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phone calls and Presents

Breakfast was a casserole with potatoes, eggs, cheese, and ham. Fresh fruit and toast finished the meal. They had barely finished when Clint announced, “Stockings!”

They had each dropped items into the stockings the previous evening. The stockings were filled with fancy chocolates and traditional candies, puzzles and games, book and magazines, small classic toys and the Funko POP! figures of each Avenger. They laughed at the likenesses and placed them across the mantle. The card games looked like a fun addition to team building nights. Bruce got EcoFluxx while Natasha got Cards against Humanity and Clint got Munchkin. Steve got the classic Mille Bornes and Tony got Exploding Kittens. After the stockings were emptied and some candy consumed, the presents began.

The team had decided that the presents would either be things they made themselves or a gift of time and presence. Steve had made sketches of each team member, in and out of uniform. Bruce had tried to figure out each team members favorite food or meal and gave them an IOU to cook for them at a later date. Clint had picked an activity for each member, hiking part of the Appalachian Trail with Steve, taking Natasha to an Arts and Craft fair, attending a Food Festival with Bruce, and a Car Show with Tony. Natasha had managed to knit a scarf for each team member, but they all decided they needed to pile them onto Tony for trying to freeze himself that morning. From beneath the pile of scarves, Tony shivered. Not with cold, but with anticipation. He had rarely received such heartfelt gifts and was nervous that his gifts would not be as well received. 

“Well, first I tried to make you all something. Steve, I upgraded your uniform, improving the body armor so the attack that managed to take you out for a few days should not be possible again. Clint, I improved your grappling arrows for improved range and grip and added some more explosive ones as well. Bruce, I got the formula from Reid Richards for stretchy pants and I put a tracker in the waistband. It activates at the gamma burst of a hulk transformation and stays on until you return to the tower. I know you don’t want to be tracked, but you always worry about what the big guy was doing and we worry about you when you transform back and we don’t have eyes on you, so…”

Bruce cut off his nervous rambling. “Tony, this is great, thank you.” 

Natasha opened a box of silky white fabric. “That can be dyed any color you would like.” Tony began. “You have an appointment with a designer to come up with a dress that is elegant, covers the vital organs and you can fight in it. That fabric is bullet proof, knife proof, and should help dissipate electrical and kinetic energy attacks. Hopefully this will provide some protection on those undercover jobs.”

“Tony this is great,“ Steve began, “but it’s all work related.” Tony’s face fell. He knew he could never give a proper gift.

Natasha saw the reaction and glared at Steve. “Tony, it is a wonderful gift. I will love having a designer gown.”

“And shoes,” Tony interrupted, “Pepper said I can’t forget the shoes.”

Her eyes sparked at that then she continued, “It is not your job to keep us safe. It is a dangerous job we do.”

“But if I could help and didn’t…” He could not complete that thought.

“I got you tickets to the ballet. Well, both the NYC and American Ballet companies. They argue over who is the best, though NYC has some brilliant choreographers. Oh, and the Bolshoi, so you can try to create a valid counter argument to convince me that Russian Ballet is still better.” 

Natasha stared at Tony. She wanted to protest that it was too much, but realized that would hurt the genius. As he liked to say, what was the point of being a billionaire if he couldn’t spend it. She smiled, “Thank you, Tony. Do you like the ballet?”

“My mother, Maria loved it. I have fond memories of attending with her.” Tony turned to face his science bro.

“Bruce, I got us tickets to the molecular gastronomy series. Science and food, sound good?”

“Sounds great, Tony.”

“Clint, pick two of my cars. We will head out to Watkins Glen, NY. I’ve bought out the Glen for the day so we can race any cars you want on the track.”

“Cool, wait even the Bugatti Veyron?”

Tony nodded and turned to Steve. “Season tickets to the Dodgers behind home plate for you and a friend.” 

Steve stared in disbelief, he had looked at ticket prices and overwhelmed by the gift, so he jokingly asked, “What if the whole team wants to attend?” 

“We have a sky box. One or two of us can probably stay undercover in the crowd, but all of us would draw too much attention. The sky box gives us some protection from the paparazzi.”

“You bought a skybox?”

“We also have a box for the ballet; I bought out the track for the day and have enough tickets for anyone who wants to attend the molecular gastronomy series.”

Steve looked ready to scold Tony for going overboard, but as he opened his mouth to speak JARVIS interrupted, “Sir, Mama Rhodes is on the line.”

Tony swallowed nervously, “Put her though.” He arranged himself in front of the view screen as it flickered into life.

“Anthony Edward Stark, what is this I hear that you were hurt and you didn’t call me?”

“Mrs. Rhodes, it’s great to see you. Merry Christmas!”

“Don’t you Mrs. Rhodes me. You look pale, you’re too thin, you obviously are not taking care of yourself. And now my James tells me you are back in that accursed house. I expect you here by dinner.”

“Mama Rhodes, I’m not alone here, I’m with the Avengers, we have Christmas dinner planned. I’m fine.”

“You are not fine. Have your dinner, but you are not spending another night there. I expect you for supper at the eight o’clock tonight.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Well, go back to your team and I’ll see you tonight. Goodbye, Anthony.”

“Goodbye, Mama Rhodes.”

Silence filled the room.

“So that’s Colonel Rhodes’ mother?” Steve asked.

“Yup, she’s quite the force of nature.” Tony smiled, “Though I have her and her son to thank for keeping me alive from age 14 to 21.”

“Well, it sounds like you have new orders.” Clint smirked.

Tony looked down at his hands. “Well, we have team dinner and clean up tomorrow…”

“And you have an appointment with Mrs. Rhodes this evening and the contractors tomorrow.” Steve stated. “Join us for dinner and then you need to go.”

Tony stood on shaky legs and headed towards the dining room. “JARVIS, call Happy, let him know my itinerary. I guess I am leaving after dinner."


	27. Mama Rhodes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A visit with Mama Rhodes and Family

$$$ 

Christmas dinner in the mansion was a festive event. The classic Spode Christmas dinnerware service was pressed into use and two sets of Christmas Crackers were used. One set with poetry and gifts like tiny screwdriver sets and manicure kits, one with jokes and children’s toys. They wore the funny hats and told the jokes and had a happy meal. When it was done, Steve went off to do the dishes and the spy twins disappeared. Bruce insisted he check Tony over before he left, rebandaging his feet and warning him to use his crutches and not overdo it, and Clint and Natasha reappeared with his bags.  
“Pack up the workstation and you’ll be ready to load up when Happy arrives.” Clint began.   
“Placing the workstation in standby mode now sir, “JARVIS offered. “Happy has just passed through the front gate.”  
The whole team saw Tony loaded into the vehicle and drive away.  
$$$

Tony dozed off on the ride, but Happy made sure to awaken him shortly before arrival. Once they pulled up to the house he made sure to quickly get out and get the door, helping him out of the vehicle and situated with his crutches, before grabbing his overnight bag and packages.  
Tony was greeted by Mr. & Mrs. Rhodes, Rhodey’s younger sister Rachel and her husband Tyler and their kids, eight year old Mary and twelve year old Mark. An older boy, maybe 13 years old and unknown to Tony, watched with suspicion as the two ran up and hugged him, with cries of “Uncle Tony!”

“Children, let the man sit down, Tyler can you get his bags.” Mrs. Rhodes swung into action, directing her troops while hustling Tony into the house. Before he knew what was happening he was seated with his feet elevated, a glass of eggnog and slice of fruitcake on the side table within easy reach. 

“Well, young man, you’ve had some of us mighty concerned after your latest adventures.” Mr. Rhodes began, “Want to fill us in on what happened?”

Tony smirked at that. Only Rhodey’s dad would still call him a young man. “Well, the villain of the week had a sonic weapon that blew out the tower windows. They had spider shaped robots that were designed to try and steal the arc reactors out of my suits.” 

“And how did you get hurt?” Mrs. Rhodes had to know.

“As I was in the penthouse at the time of the attack, I got cut by some of the window material as it was blown inward and then I had to run across it barefoot to get to the lab, hence the injury to my feet and the temporary crutches.”

“And why did you end up at the mansion? I know you would never choose to be there…”

“The Avengers have been living at the tower, so they all needed a place to stay for Christmas during the repairs. And Captain America is still having a hard time adapting to the 21st century. Steve really needed a traditional Christmas to connect to this time and the team and I figured I could put up with the mansion for a few days.“

“And how did that go?” Mama Rhodes gave him a quick hug as she took his empty glass for a refill. 

“Not so well.” Tony tried to change the subject. “So how was your Christmas?”

Mr. Rhodes gave him an out, “Would be better if James could be home as well, but we had most of the family together.”

“Oh Tony,” Rachel piped up, “The other boy is Brett. His dad’s deployed and his mom was in car accident yesterday. She’ll be ok, but they wanted to keep her in the hospital for a few days, so he’s staying with us for Christmas.”

“Where are the kids,” Tony asked, noticing the quiet. “Did they like their presents?” 

“They aren’t allowed to open the science kits at Grandma’s house and we haven’t set up the gaming system. You spoil them Tony.” She mock glared at him.

“What’s the point of being the rich, eccentric uncle if you can’t spoil them a little?”

The kids came running in, “Uncle Tony, Uncle Tony, would you set up the gaming system? Brett doesn’t believe it’s better than an Xbox or Playstation.”

“I am wounded.” Tony gasped and clutched at his heart.

“Why do you call him Uncle? He’s obviously not related.” Brett sneered with the attitude unique to pre-teens and teenagers.

“What is an uncle?”

“Your mom or dad’s brother, duh!”

“So Rachel, Mark and Mary’s mom, brother is James Rhodes, an Air Force Colonel.”

“I know that.”

“Well, what you don’t know is he was my roommate at MIT. And as a 14 year old freshman, 17 year old James was older, wiser and kept my butt alive for 4 years. When I came home for winter break as a freshman to discover an empty house closed up for the season, the Rhodes took me in. When my parents died in a car accident just before Christmas when I was 17, they kept a lonely child from self-destructing and encouraged me to take time to grow up, finish my undergraduate program and go on for my PhDs before taking over the family business. Family is more than who gives birth to you. It’s the people who care about you. The Rhodes became my family, and thus I became Uncle Tony.”

The boy looked at him with skepticism. Tony sighed. Rome wasn’t built in a day. He turned to Mark. “Hey kiddo, bring me the yellow bag.” 

Mark grinned and dashed to comply. “Are we beta testing?” Mary started jumping up and down.

“Yup,” Tony replied, popping his p. “New Starkpads designed for use in schools, educational software, monitored internet access, lower cost with high durability. Hit the feedback button with any issues, even if it’s just to tell me something is boring. If you break it under normal use, you get a trip to the city to tell my R&D exactly how they failed and then we have some fun!” He handed one to each child, Brett stared at it if it. 

“You are including me?”

“Why not, the more beta testers the better?”

Before the boy could question his motives again, he picked up his crutches, “So what TV do you want me to hook the system to Mama Rhodes?

$$$

Once the children were distracted, Tony went to work. Mama Rhodes smiled, watching her “other son” indulgently.

“Rachel, what hospital is Brett’s mom in and what’s her full name?” Tony asked as his fingers flicked over the tablet’s surface.

Rachel answered without thinking and then asked, “Tony, what are you doing?”

“Not doing…done. She shouldn’t have to worry about medical bills on top of everything else. I assume the military and Red Cross are working on getting Brett’s dad home?”

“Yes, they called. He is on his way out of the hot zone and is on his way to an extraction point.”

Tony picked up his tablet. “J, any STARK vehicles near his area that could get him home quicker?”

“Yes sir, we have a jet in the region that can get him home directly instead of the normal route to Germany, Langley and then New York. He can be here by tomorrow afternoon, shaving two days off his trip.” 

“Get it done, J.” Tony sat back. “When he is settled into my plane, set up a call to the hospital and then a call here to his son.”

“Ok, Santa Stark, go put your feet up.” Mr. Rhodes ordered. “Rachel, set the table, dinner in half an hour.” 

$$$

After dinner was done and the adults settled in the den to talk, JARVIS announced the call. 

“Brett, are you ok?”

“Dad!”

“Your mom said you weren’t with her in the car.”

“No, she had to work, so I was spending the day with my friend Mark. She was on her way to get me…”

“Where are you now?”

“I’m still with his family. We are at his grandparent’s house. “

“I need to thank them…taking you in on Christmas…”

Rachel finally spoke up, “No need for that, we were glad to help. My brother, James Rhodes, is an Air Force Colonel, so I am familiar with how emergencies can arise in the military.”

“Colonel James Rhodes…wait, is War Machine your brother?”

“Yes.” Rachel smiled knowing what was next.

“So that’s why I am suddenly getting a ride home on a STARK industries jet.”

Rachel started to contradict, but she saw Tony shake his head. She sighed, knowing she would need to fill her brother in later. 

“Anyway, Brett…be good, get to bed soon, I will hopefully be home tomorrow afternoon, thanks to these nice people.”

“See you soon.”

“Goodnight Brett.”

The call ended and Rachel sent the kids off to bed. 

“Tony you should get some rest, too. You need to take better care of yourself.” Mama Rhodes drew Tony up into a hug. She remembered the first time she tried to hug him.

_Mrs. Rhodes was so grateful to hear the car pull into the driveway as the storm continued to worsen. Mr. Rhodes came in carrying bags and holding the door open, her son came in carrying a young man piggy back. She knew from Jim’s letters that his roommate was 14, at least 3 years younger than the average college freshman, but this skinny, pale boy was no more than a child. His son lowered the boy gently onto one of the dining room chairs, rearranged the arm in the sling and went off to get a pillow to elevate the child’s foot. She went to give him a hug and heard her son, ”Hug gently mom, he bruised and scraped up his ribs when he fell out of the tree.”  
She pulled up his shirt to look at the scrapes and bruising. He flinched away and she realizes he is probably not used to such attention if he could come home to an empty house. “Those will need to be kept clean and ointment applied until they are fully healed.” She gave him a brief hug around the neck and a kiss to the top of his head. He leaned back into the hug unconsciously, and she briefly tousled his dark brown curls. Lonely and touch starved was her motherly diagnosis, and she held the hug a little longer than normal. _

Mrs. Rhodes felt the man in question melt into the hug and realized how little had changed in the years that had passed. “You are a good man, Anthony Edward Stark.” She whispered into his ear, knowing the praise would make him uncomfortable. She then remarked louder, “I am sure you will be rushing off tomorrow, but not until after a good breakfast. Now off to bed.“

$$$

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry its been so long between updates. Hopefully I can get this finished off soon with it now being summer break.


	28. Ringing in the New Year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From boxing day through the new year.

$$$  
Tony awoke to the sounds of children laughing and shouting over a video game. Their voices carried up the stairs and Tony realized that if Mrs. Rhodes was not shushing them then it was past time for him to get up. He had slept through the night without nightmares or sleepwalking disturbing him. Comfortable in Rhodey’s old bedroom, he had slept better than he had in over a week. He stood with minimal pain in his feet. He showered, bandaged his feet put on nice jeans and a dress shirt and jacket and pulled on the work boots he kept for visiting job sites. The work on the tower repairs was supposed to be done today, but they fit easily over his bandages and he always found the workmen responded better when he looked more like an engineer visiting a job site and less the billionaire businessman. 

He joined the family for breakfast, Mama Rhodes stuffing him until he feared he would explode, as she complained once more that he was too skinny, just as she had at their first meeting when he was a scrawny 14 year old kid. She sent him on his way with enough food to feed an army, this time it might all get eaten when he shared it with the enhanced appetites of the team. He promised to call more often and was hugged once more as he was sent on his way, with even Happy having to promise to take care of himself, so he could keep looking after Tony.

$$$

The meeting with the contractors went well, and everything at the tower was ready for the return of the team. SI always let as many employees as possible have from December 23rd through January 1st off, so Tony had minimal meetings. The team spent the days watching movies, playing some of the games they gave each other for Christmas and enjoying some team bonding time. Tony still disappeared into the lab for most of the day, but he made an effort to join them meals and activities. On December 30th, Bruce declared Tony fully healed and ready to return to active duty.

“Great now you’ve jinxed us and some villain is going to want to disrupt the New Year’s activities.” Clint grumbled.

Bruce glared at him while cleaning his glasses. “It is supposed to be dangerously cold tomorrow night. Steve and I run hot, but the rest of you…”

“I know how to dress for a Russian winter, plus with the red room tampering, you need not worry about me, Dr. Banner. And I will make sure someone wears something with sleeves.” She glared at Barton.

“Hey, I know when I need to wear my long johns.” Clint protested,“ I can dress myself.” 

“I doubt that.” The room dissolved into giggles as Natasha and Tony realized they had both mumbled that response.

Bruce looked over at Tony, who sighed. “I’ll be fine, science bro. I’ve got my suit to keep me warm.”

“You aren’t going in the Iron Man armor.” Rogers didn’t seem to realize that he was doing his “Captain America is disappointed in you” voice and stare. 

“No…the undersuit.” Tony took in the confused looks around him and elaborated. “In the armor I fly at high speeds at high altitudes. It gets cold enough for ice to form on the suit. I can use the reactor to heat the outside of the armor to keep me flying and my undersuit to keep me from freezing. So if I wear the undersuit under my regular suit tomorrow then JARVIS will keep me nice and warm.”

$$$

New Year’s Eve brought the team to Time’s Square for the celebrated ball drop. They attended the SI charity gala, did a few interviews and then stepped out onto the balcony for the big event. Steve stared in awe at the ball so high above the square. “It looks bigger than it did when Bucky and I watched it drop in 1939, brighter too.” 

Tony smirked, “Well, the first ball was about 5 feet in diameter and lit by 100 25 watt incandescent bulbs. This one is nearly twelve feet in diameter and has 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles lit by 32,256 Light Emitting Diodes, so yes, it is bigger and brighter than back then.” 

The final countdown began, “10, 9, 8…”

“Light Emitting what?” Steve asked confused over the roar of the crowd shouting, “7, 6, 5…”

“LEDs, tiny little lightbulbs, use much less energy than the old incandescent bulbs.” Bruce explained over the cries of “4, 3, 2…”

“And I can use them in these!” Tony held aloft a tiny drone. “One, JARVIS lauch.”

As the shouts of Happy New Year filled the air and confetti rained down, thousands of tiny drones sprang to life and light. At first they flew patterns that looked like traditional fireworks, and then they began to form complex patterns as a purple arrow cross the sky. A red spider with white hourglass was followed by an outline of the Hulk perched on the top of a building like King Kong. Finally images of the Captain’s shield and Iron Man flew across the sky before dissolving into more traditional firework patterns again. Finally Happy New Year was spelled across the sky and the displayed ended. Tony popped the cork on a bottle of champagne. “Here’s to a happy and hopefully peaceful new year!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thus ends my Christmas story...in July!


End file.
